CRAFT-O-RAMA!

CRAFTORAMA!

We’ll be at CRAFT-O-RAMA New Bedford, MA today (Saturday, June 18th) and Saturday, July 30th. Stop by the booth and say hello!

Summer Schedule

Thanks to everyone who stopped by the booth at the Harbortown Arts Market this weekend! It was a much hotter day than expected, but thank goodness those thunderstorms never made an appearance. Clear skies and a light breeze made for a great shopping day down by the water. This was my first time to Gloucester and the market-goers were very happy to have the Etsy Mill Gypsies visiting. Many of them expressed a desire for us to come back, so that’s always encouraging.

If you’re visiting this page because you picked up a business card at the market, HELLO! I don’t update this blog as often as I should (I am really trying to get better about that). You can follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, which I update more often.

My focus right now is making stock for the rest of the summer markets, so the Etsy shop is a bit bare at the moment. If you have any special requests you can always email me at sparklejdesigns@gmail.com and I’d love to see what I can do for you. I love doing custom orders!

My next event is Craftorama in New Bedford, MA on June 18th (and then again on July 30th). I hope to see you there!

We’re back!

The shop is reopened and it feels so good!

Listings in the Etsy shop include lunch bags, mason jar cozies, and dice/gaming bags (which can be used for snack bags if that’s your thing – just don’t get your snacks and dice mixed up). There are still a few of the discounted 1.0 style lunch bags available. All new lunch bags will be made in the new size – see the Robot, Mushroom, or Bento lunch bag listings for more information.

Mason jar drinking lids are available via the Storenvy shop. Cozies are available at the Storenvy shop as well, so if you’re placing a cozy+lid combo order you don’t have to do so via multiple shops. (I sell the lids on Storenvy because I do not make them myself and cannot sell them on Etsy.)

The next scheduled shop update is Monday, 16 February 2015 when we’ll be adding more lunch and dice bags and party banners. As always, custom orders are welcome any time.

Cheers!

Green Earth Fest!

We’re a last minute addition to the Green Earth Fest at the South Shore Natural Science Center in Norwell, MA. The event is May 4th, 11 am – 4 pm and will take place rain or shine.

This is a family-friendly festival, and this year’s theme is “Celebrating Dirt.” There’s going to be all sorts of activities for kids, and it looks to be a very fun day. Hope we’ll see you there!

(Photo credit: Green Earth Fest)

Handmade Holidays

If you’re planning to give handmade gifts this season, you’re going to want to start planning now. I know it seems early, but handmade takes time as you know. (And really, Hanukkah is only a couple of weeks away!)

We’re currently taking orders for Cunning Hats and Party Banners over in the Etsy shop, and mason jar accessories over at the Strorenvy shop.* Remember, it takes about two weeks to process a hat order, so keep that in mind when planning your shopping. The jar accessories ship in 3-7 days.

If hats and jars aren’t on your shopping list, please let me know if there’s anything else I make that you might like to have instead: dice and gaming bags, lunch bag sets, tea towels, aprons, etc. I’m happy to take custom requests!

Thank you for buying handmade this season!

*Why two shops? Because it’s against Etsy policy to sell the jar lids over there since I don’t make them. I’m planning to transfer everything over to the Storenvy shop in due time to make things simpler.

Party Time!

We recently added a new section to the shop: Party Time!

Most of the things we make are food related. Lunch bags, napkins, mason jar cozies, etc. We’re also big fans of the summer picnic. With summer swiftly approaching in the Northern Hemisphere (though Massachusetts still has chilly mornings and the occasional frost), our minds are in full-on picnic party mode.

The first item in the Party Time section is one of my favorite things to sew pretty much ever. Nothing says “party” quite like a cheerfully charming party banner. I just love choosing all the different fabrics that go in to each one. I get positively giddy picking out all the stripes, dots, floral, stars, plaids. If I could wear a party banner without tripping all over the place, I would. That’s how happy these make me.

Whether you’re planning an indoor party or one outdoors, these banners will add that little something extra to make your guests smile. We currently offer a choice of 8 different color schemes:

1. Rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Purple
2. Sunset: Red, Orange
3. Citrus: Yellow, Green (Similar to the one pictured above.)
4. Celestial: Blue, Purple
5. Night Circus: Black, White, Grey
6. Patriotic: Red, White, Blue
7. Primary: Red, Blue, Yellow
8. Grab Bag: 12 different fabrics of my choosing

Of course, if you’ve got something special in mind, we’re happy to make a banner just for you in your choice of colors. Each banner is 9 feet long and consists of 12 triangles in 6 different fabrics. Choose the “grab bag” option only if you want me to pick out 12 different fabrics for you, in any color and pattern I feel like. MWAHAHHAH! *ahem*

Things are very exciting around the sparkle j designs barn these days, and a party banner is the perfect way to celebrate.

Cheers!

Meanwhile…

While I’m thinking up a way to properly organize the traveling whatnot game, how about a wee swap? Check in over on Twitter for another CTSoA (Crafty Twitter Swap of Awesomeness). The theme this time is Tiny Things.

If you sign up in the comments here, I’ll still add you to the swap, but to keep things easy for me and for participants, please give your Twitter handle, as that will be the primary means of communication for the swap.

Are you in? Send me an @ reply (@sparklej). The hashtag to use is #CTSoA.

Happy Birthday, sparklej.com! (Belatedly.)

*throws confetti*

March 2012 marked the 10 year anniversary of sparklej.com! Can you believe it? I’ve been blah, blah, blahging for 10 years (albeit intermittently). What began as a place to whine to myself (and a few close friends who felt like wading through the whinging) about my first world problems of being a college student involved in entirely too many activities for her own good, evolved into a place where I could share crafty projects as they developed (and where I only whined a little while in grad school). During my time in roller derby (which ate up every possible aspect of my entire life, my time, and my soul – in both good ways and bad), I hardly blah blah blahgged at all.

And now here we are, gentles, in 2012, where the grass is green and there’s hardly any whining at all! We made it! Does this mean I’m an adult now? I have a 10 year old after all.

Not to be outdone by the blogaversary, April 2012 is the one year anniversary of when I said “So long, libraries and archives, and thanks for all the paper cuts!” One year of being an independent contractor in the hand made garment industry. One year of sewing as a job. One year of learning a zillion and one things about growing a business. The biggest thing I’ve learned? I have a zillion times infinity things to learn yet. It’s been an amazing journey thus far, and I’m looking forward to learning and making ALL THE THINGS!

Which brings me to the celebration portion of this birthday greeting. Seeing as how I’m a bit of a Hobbit (elevensies, anyone?) and it’s my blog’s birthday, you’re all going to get presents! YAY! From each other! Double YAY! Here’s how it’s going to go:

1. Leave a comment on this post to join the anniversary craft swap, indicating your preferred method of communication between you and your swap partner (email, twitter, facebook, etc of your choice).
2. I’ll pair you up with another participant and will notify the both of you.
3. Communicate with your swap partner to figure out what sorts of things they enjoy craft-wise (I’ll post a brief survey to help guide you), or if you two would enjoy crafting within a theme, etc, and make something for them! Try to keep it to a $10 or so supplies limit.
4. You should mail your items no later than the 9th of May.
5. Receive a hand made something from a new friend! HOORAY!

That’s it! Happy crafting, everyone!

Happy PAX Easter!

Hello and welcome to first time visitors! I’m sure I’m going to be meeting a ton of new people at PAX this weekend. It’s going to be so much fun!

If you’ve seen me around the show, I’ve probably been knitting the whole time. Specifically knitting Cunning Jayne Hats for your Firefly hat wearing pleasure. If I’m out of stock in the shop, check back periodically throughout the weekend, as I’ll be adding more as I knit them. Don’t forget to use coupon code PAXEAST to waive the shipping fee, and we’ll arrange a time to meet up at the show for you to pick up your order. Follow @sparklej on Twitter, as I’ll be tweeting my location periodically throughout the weekend.

See you around, I hope! Happy gaming!

March Surprise!

In February I ran a little give-away on Twitter, and one lucky winner (@daharadreams) received a knitted Valentiny. This month, I’m doing something similar. You won’t know what the prize is until it shows up in your mail! It will be a small knitted or sewn surprise. I haven’t quite decided what it will be yet, so I guess it’ll even be a surprise for me!

You have three ways to enter that will get you three chances to win! Here’s how:

1. Comment on this post (one entry) and tell me your favorite thing about Spring time.
2. Link to this post on Twitter, making sure to include me (@sparklej), then leave a comment here with a link to your tweet (one entry).
3. “Like” me on Facebook (sparkle j designs) and leave a comment here letting me know that you have done so (one entry). If you already like me on Facebook, simply leave a comment here letting me know.
4. Make sure all of these entries are separate comments here, as the number generator I use will choose the winner by their comment number.

That’s it! Easy-peasy. The contest ends at midnight on March 11. Good luck!

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Congratulations to Amanda Pedersen! She’s won! YAAAAAY! She will receive a tiny custom creature in the color(s) of her choice! I’ll post a photo once it’s done. Thank you all for playing!