WESTie Wednesday with Courtney and her shop iHooked

Welcome to WESTie Wednesday, where each week we get to know a proud WEST member and their Etsy shop! Learn about Courtney and her shop iHooked!

 

iHooked specializes in modern infinity scarves and women's accessories including bracelets, necklaces, bags, hats and headbands. All products are created in bright bold colours!

 

"I found my passion for crocheting a few years back when I quit smoking and needed something to keep me busy. I started with small items for friends and family then soon became obsessed with different yarns and bright fun bold colours."

 "I love to create new and different types of accessories! Scarves are my favourite. I try to find different types of yarn and new variations of crochet stitches to make something unique for you."

We asked Courtney “Why Etsy?”

"I found the Etsy community very friendly and supportive which gave me the courage to start my Etsy shop!"

Want to see more? Be sure to check out iHooked on social media!

Facebook | Instagram

 

WESTie Wednesday - featuring Tawny Bee

Welcome to WESTie Wednesday, where each week we better get to know a proud WEST member and their Etsy shop! Let's meet Tawny Bee, of Tawny Bee, an earth mama who loves to use upcycled materials in her work.

(source)

"I mostly specialize in reusable mama cloth, potty training pants and nursing pads. In the new year, however, I'm going to work towards fulfilling my dream of becoming a toy maker. I've spent this entire year learning how to crochet in order to best realize this dream. I'll be sewing and crocheting wonderful toys for kids and kids at heart. Have no fear though, I won't forget about my tried and true products! I create in my dungeon... er... I mean studio/laundry room/rec room of my house. I like to be in the fray of family life when I create. My kids are super creative and always get me thinking about things in a different way. I spend a lot of time in thrift stores where I source many of the materials you might find in my potty training pants especially, as I upcycle fun children's clothes into these fantastically helpful garments. I line them with bamboo batting, which I purchase in bulk whenever I find a good sale at whatever fabric store carries good quality bamboo at a decent price."

(source)

"I sell mama cloth, potty training pants and nursing pads (and other such things made to be reusable and absorbent). Some call me the bodily fluids lady... ummm... yeah... I guess it's true, so I'm fine with it. I also sell toy hammocks and will venture into actual handmade quality toys in the future."

(source)

"I have an Etsy shop because if I didn't create, I would go insane. Also, if I didn't sell some of the stuff I create I think I would be labeled as a hoarder and my husband would have me committed. So I guess what I'm getting at is that my shop keeps me from being insane. :P"

Looking for Tawny Bee? Check out her out on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter!

skip the gift wrap with Caitlin / Real Swanky!

This Tutorial Tuesday, Caitlin of Real Swanky will be showing us how to wrap gifts without the use of paper! It's a great way to utilize your..

• spare fabric
• a bandanna
• a cute vintage handkerchief
• a dish cloth or towel, which may be part of the gift, to boot!

You will need:

• Your gift
• A square piece of fabric (or whatever you are using to wrap) that is at least 3 times the length of the longest measurement of your gift

For my gift, I'll be wrapping up my latest embroidered piece, an anatomically correct brain (details here). It measures 7" in diameter, so I made sure my fabric was at least 21" long. For placement, start with your gift at least 1-2" away from the edges of your fabric's perimeter.

Flip the whole piece towards the other end of the fabric once.

..and again..

Flip once last time, you may have a few inches of fabric remaining at the end, so flipping it one last time is a wise idea. As you can see above, the "wrong" side of the fabric is facing up on your left and right side.

Take the fabric on the left and right side, and tie it into a knot, as you would tie your shoes.

Then, tie one last time. That's it!

This method of wrapping is great for just about anything -- books, soaps and perfumes, cooking utensils, boxed goods, and a heap more.

WEST February/March Design Challenge Results

The WEST Design Challenge for February/March was based on the Pantone colour of the year, Emerald Green. And did WEST members rise up to this challenge?

Yes they did! I think this was a new record, with 10 entries!

Here are all of this month's entries, in order of submission:

Lego Inspired Building Block Slippers for Children by Magination

Wall or Table Planters With Gold Metal Lyre Harp Holders Emerald Green Ceramic Pair Set of Two by BitchinKitschKitchen

Green Striped Malachite Earrings with Silver Wire by KristasJewellery

Pantone Emerald Green Nightie / Cami . 

studded . sheer spider web tulle yoke by realswanky

 
Caitlin of realswanky notes: In the spirit of Pantone's Colour of the Year, St Patrick's Day, AND a massive sale at the fabric store.. I put together this nightie with sheer spiderweb tulle yoking! I lucked out and came across this lovely green material perfect for this project. Black English cone studs finish the edges of the shoulders with a spooky bang.

Fractal Necklace - Sierpinski Triangle in Apple, Copper and Emerald Green 

by DragonNerd

Mike and Shaunna of DragonNerd absolutely love how this Emerald green pairs with copper wire, so I just knew it had to incorporate copper in some way. I have a couple of options for combining wires, and decided to do a trio of colours: Emerald, Copper and my new Apple Green to join together in a Sierpinski Triangle necklace. The colours feel fresh and warm to me.

Highroads Dictionary Rebound Journal Recycled Book by PrairiePeasant

   
PrairiePeasant was inspired by a small piece of paste paper made several years ago, and thought it would make good endpapers in a journal. (Paste paper is kind of like finger painting for adults!) From there, I looked through all my books for any green books that might go with the paper, and found this vintage dictionary. 

Emerald Pot of Gold Large Round Coiled Basket / Bowl / Pot 

by PrairieThreads

PrairieThreads looked through all her green fabric and found some pieces of a men's cotton shirt. I like the way plaid fabrics look when they are made into coiled baskets, so that's what I decided to make. I wanted to try something different, so I made a ripply lace type edge at the top.

Ear Cuff Chain and Earrings - Emerald - 

Colour of the Year by SecretJewelry

Christa from SecretJewelry notes: After looking at a few color combo's for the Pantone 17-5641 color of the year, I knew exactly what I was going to do...Emerald/Teal tones and white.. What a perfect combo!

Black Leather Card Holder with Emerald Green Lining by WeAreBoundTogether

Emerald Green Textured Mug Cozy by AdorablesbyAlisia

 For Alisia of AdorablesbyAlisia, this was a different direction in both design and crochet technique. It was fun to try something new!

We'd love to hear from you. Aren't these fabulous emerald items? Which is your favourite?

Thanks to each participant this month! Well done team! 

WEST February/March Design Challenge: Emerald Green

It's time for WEST to resume it's regular Design Challenges! It's been a little while since we've had one, so here's how it works:

I'll post the theme/inspiration on the blog and in our team discussion forum on Etsy. Your job is to take that inspiration in whatever direction your imagination leads. The goal is to challenge yourself, be inspired and enjoy the creative process! 

As you think about the theme, add comments to the discussion thread on Etsy about your process. Take pictures of your process and the finished item and post them in the discussion thread when you are done. It's interesting and inspiring to others to hear the story about how you arrived at your finished product, so please share at least a comment about your process! I will post the results of the challenge after the deadline. If we get enough items, I'll make a treasury including all the items! 

And now on to the current challenge! The theme for the next month is the Pantone Colour of the Year 2013, Emerald Green! Let the colour inspire you, but don't be too hung up on recreating this precise colour. The deadline for this challenge is one month from yesterday, March 7, with the results being posted on March 8, just before St. Patrick's Day!

 
And to inspire you further:

Ear cuff, chain, and Green Shell Earrings by Secret Jewelry

1930's Ladies Day Dress by WildRoseVintage

A few notes: 
Create something new, especially for the challenge. Entries for each challenge must be finished by the posted deadline. Vintage and supply sellers are welcome to participate too, with a focus on artful photography and careful choice of item. 

Happy designing! I hope this inspires you, and I can't wait to see what you'll come up with!

Greetings from Just the Goods!

Hello everyone!

Although I've started meet a few of you through the Wrap Me Up craft sale in November and now, more recently, the egg hunt we starting to organize together, I thought I'd take a moment to introduce myself more formally since links to my Etsy page, etc., aren't in the side bar just yet ;-)

I'm a producer of handmade natural and cruelty-free cosmetic for everyone including shaving solids, body butter, foot cream, hand and body lotion, bath melts, roll on-fragrance, and so much more. Almost all of my items are vegan -- the only one that is not quite yet is my lip balm, but a vegan version is on its way! Creating new products is my favourite part of my practice, so I'm in “the lab” regularly with a view to expanding my line of products. For example, I’m almost done testing my new basic hold hair styling gel and I’m getting close to a deodorant stick I love! Yay!

The reason I started doing this was two-fold. First, the discomfort my partner was beginning to experience as a result of his growing chemical sensitivity alerted us to very real problems with the petro-chemical cosmetics industry. Second, the unfairly inflated prices of many natural products were starting to grate on us. Related to that was the unfair labelling practices of many companies, especially after being acquired by larger, multi-national corporations. Why were they including contested ingredients such as SLS or propylene-glycol in their formulations, but still calling them natural alternatives?  We figured we could either keep spending more and more and more toward finding better products, or I could start making our own. We chose the latter ;-)

Just the Goods is my effort to make healthy skin care and grooming alternatives available at an affordable price, making them more accessible to everyone. For more information, please visit http://justthegoods.etsy.com  or http://www.justthegoods.net for an even larger product listing.

Thanks for the opportunity to tell you more about what I do! I’m looking forward to meeting more W.E.S.T. Team Members and working together =-)

Best,
Milena

Green is the New Black...

...was a huge success!

Thank you to everyone who was able to participate! I hope that many of you were able to get your names out there and sell a few pieces in the process.

To check out some of the photos from the evening (they're still trickling in), join our facebook group "Green is the New Black". Also, join the group for the Costume Museum of Canada to find out about upcoming events. You can email me and Jen at jennifer@costumemuseum.com to be put on the list of contacts for our future craft sales and fashion events.