EastCoastKitsch

Boutique Chal-Baie

2009-05-12T09:29:00.000-07:00

Introducing the newly opened Artisan Boutique in Bathurst New Brunswick Canada. Please visit our facebook page to join and learn about the local artisans and events taking place throughout the summer.

Green Pledge

2009-01-30T13:31:00.000-08:00

Today I "pledged" my green business as part of the Greening Chaleur Businesses Program. This program has been initiative by the Chaleur Green Initiative whose mandate is to:

•To educate the Chaleur business owners and community leaders about sustainable development with a focus on local implications and benefits;
•To stimulate and implement green and environmentally sustainable concepts and practices within individual businesses and communities in the Chaleur region and
•Become the leaders in the community for both business and community alike to be wardens of best practices and the information provider for programs, services and information to all aspects of sustainable development, education issues and climate change issues.

I think this is a great program. I pledged to:
* Reduce waste in packing my items for shipping by only using what is necessary
* Use recycled packaging in as many cases as possible
* Use recycled paper for labels, business cards etc

Obviously my business itself is based around recycled material- so I mentioned that as well. This is a photo of some of my products on display. I had quite a few positive comments from the people in attendance and one request to display some of my coffee cup sleeves at a local art gallery.

Coffee Cup Sleeve Saga Complete

2009-01-29T03:56:00.001-08:00

YIPPEE!! I have completed my order (the full story starts here) for 220 coffee cup sleeves. Everything is ready to be shipped and the only reason that they are not being shipped today is because we are in the middle of a blizzard and I am stuck at home! First thing tomorrow the sleeves will be off to their new home.

I have to say that I never realized how long and tedious it was to make the labels. I had to cut each with a cutter and then I punched this cute little maple leaf in the corner as my "made in Canada" symbol on each one (which took a hour alone!!). For the most part the sleeves fit on nicely and those that did not, I secured them to the labels with some hemp (which for some strange reason my cats became fascinated with!!)

Here are some of the final photos:

These are my labels and my tools to get the job done.

All of the sleeves packed up tight. I bundled the sleeves up in groups of 5 (made it easy for me to count and kept it nice and neat).

This is the final product...

Continuing Coffee Cup Saga

2009-01-26T04:07:00.001-08:00

Well I thought it would be good to update everyone on my coffee cup saga. I AM DONE ALL OF THE SLEEVES!! Yes I have 220 coffee cup sleeves done (223 to be exact)!!! I finished them up Saturday evening and I felt very triumphant!! I worked my butt off to get them done, so that I could spend Sunday working on the labels- not that was work!! I have to cut, print and then cut again all of the labels. I am using file folders as the paper for the labels, because it is durable, the colour and texture I wanted and it is made out of 75% post-consumer waste. So before I could run them through the printer I had to cut them all, and then because they were so think, I basically had to hand feed them through my printer and then I had to go back and cut them out... I worked on them all day on Sunday and I have 169 cut, so I am almost there! I will then have to punch holes in them and attach them to the sleeves- that will probably take me to Tuesday night and then hopefully I can get them couriered out on Wednesday or Thursday. I am so happy that everything is working out!!!

The boxes with all of the sleeves!!

The labels in progress!! I will get there eventually...

One Heart One World Give-away

2009-01-23T09:53:00.000-08:00

This is my first time entering- but the third year for the the One World-One Heart event (OWOH). Click on the badge to go to the main event's blog where you can find a list of everyone who is offering a giveaway for this year's event.

I am giving away a "the funky fun diva" kit as my give-away! The kit includes a really cute denim bikini should bag (that hangs about 24 inches), an adorable scrabble tile pendant, a bouquet of 5 fun button flowers and the rock my heart coffee cup sleeve. This would be great for yourself, your daughter grand-daughter or anyone who loves fun, funky handmade goodness!!!

So, how can you get a chance to win this great "funky fun diva" kit? Very easy. Leave ONE (1) comment on this post (not any other post on my blog)and have an active blog (meaning that you update it at least once a month) or a valid email address (leave it in the comments or have it on your Blogger profile).I also encourage you to check out my shop and let me know what your favourite item is!! You do NOT need to be a OWOH participant. Anyone can participate BUT I need to have a way to contact winners. Most people follow these requirements but if there is no way for me to contact you, I will remove your name from the entries.

Winners will be announced on February 12th. Good luck!

The Coffee Cup Sleeve Saga

2009-01-23T04:56:00.000-08:00

Well this is it- the journey I have embarked on to complete a large volume order of Coffee Cup Sleeves....

Last Tuesday I was contacted by a person who said they were a marketing rep for a company and they were interested in purchasing 200 of my recycled sweater coffee cup sleeves to use in a promotion that the company was doing to launch a new environmentally-friendly line of their products. Of course I was both skeptical and elated! She wanted to set up a time to discuss this with me and so I told her that I would be happy to speak to her about this opportunity. Before I went any further though, I did some research to verify the legitimacy of the company (of course you want to be safe and this was a huge order). We chatted the next day and she expressed her delight in finding a person who not only made coffee cup sleeves (as she had been considering other ones) but ones that were made out of recycled sweaters- it was perfect for her product launch and she was so keen to use someone who sold on Etsy as she has been a fan of the site for ages. We continued to chat and then got down to business and discussed the arrangement for payment, etc and then I asked the question- "When do you need the order filled?" Oh she said, by the first week of February... What?!?!? OMG that was only 2.5 weeks away and I also needed to have them shipped. I still felt confident that I could do it- she also encouraged me to include with each one a story about how I made them and the value of a coffee cup sleeve. We finished the call and the next thing you know I get another email for an additional 20 sleeves- bringing the order to 220!! OK- I was already going to do 200 in 2 weeks so what's another 20?!?!

Well I got started:

This is a photo of the pile of sweaters I started out with. I am very fortunate to have my BF's mother- she loves this and went searching for sweaters for me and found a ton of them- most of them were ripped and so they were really inexpensive!!!

I worked diligently each night and all weekend:

This is a picture of me working away in my basement. I tended to cut and prep everything in my studio and then in order to be sociable I would gather everything up and head downstairs to assemble the sleeves.

One week into the job I have 171 sleeves assembled!!!

This has been such a great experience and I am so happy to have had the opportunity to help out such an environmentally conscious company and get my name out there! I love to take orders of any size!!!

Obama Craft Explosion

2009-01-20T07:07:00.000-08:00

It is really quite interesting and exciting to see all of the energy around the inauguration of Barack Obama today as the President of the United States of America. Even as a Canadian, we can't (and don't want to) escape the excitement, with virtually every Canadian media outlet covering the big day. As a die-hard CBC listener, I have been able to sit here at my desk and listen to the various opinions/perspectives of various people about this historic day and the impact he will have on the world as we know it today. With that being said, he certainly has impacted the crafting world and am completely blown away by the amount of people on etsy who are selling Barack Obama inspired handmade goods. As you can see by the front page there are an amazing amount of fantastic items out there if you want to show your support for Obama.

Etsy shop makeover chronicles day 4 Creating a Perfect Brand

2009-01-17T04:31:00.001-08:00

Guide to Branding: Create an Identity for Your Business
Creating a good brand is much more than getting a good logo and slapping it on all of your communications. What should you have, and how do you get them? That's what we're going to work out in this guide.
http://www.associatedcontent.comarticle/428250/guide_to_branding_create_an_identity.html

Esty Shop Make-over Chronicles Day 3

2009-01-16T06:24:00.000-08:00

Well it isn't actually Day 3- it's more like 3 or 4 days later, but SOOOOO much has happened in the past week that I have not been able to keep up with everything! It has been a tremendously exciting week and quite honestly is all related to my shop makeover, so even though I have not posted in a bit- I have been working away!!

What has taken place this week you ask?!?!? Well I will tell you!!

1. Registered my business in the province of New Brunswick
2. Hired a graphic designer to help with the branding of East Coast Kitsch
3. Re-takes of some of my photos
4. Purchased some additional project wonderful ad space
5. Received a wholesale order that has completely changed my business!!!
6. Invested in some new tools for my business

It has been a crazy week- but completely rewarding!!

Esty Shop Make-over Chronicles Day 2

2009-01-11T17:28:00.000-08:00

The dreaded light box...

OK so right now my light box looks like a two year old kid made it. It has served a purpose for the past month, but I do need to make some improvements. I have purchased some white bristol board, which I am going to use as a background as I am thinking of repaces the white fabric that I using right now with some white tissue paper. I am also looking for some better lights to use. I currently am using a 100 w bulb, but would prefer to find a better light (goose neck desk lamp) so that I can get something to be right in the middle of the top of the box. I am going to work on this tomorrow and hopefully I will be able to start taking some wonderful photos very soon!

This the tutorial I used to make my light box in the first place....

Esty Shop Make-over Chronicles Day 1

2009-01-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

OK- well yesterday was my 1 year Etsy Anniversary and although I am thrilled with my 49 sales and 300 + hearts, I really did want to make some major improvements to the look and feel of my shop. I have great success selling my products at craft fairs and I felt that my shop was not doing my products justice. So I stepped in the the Etsy Virtual Labs for a Critique of my shop- and one thing you have to know about me is that I am very sensitive to critisism, so this was huge for me. I have so say it wasn't that bad- thanks so much Daniellexo for your great critiques and the rest of the etsy sellers who were in the lab helping me out. I think the major points that I got out of the lab were:
1. Pictures- I need to be consistent, make better use of my camera settings (macro), use my lightbox more effectively and choose good backgrounds
2. Tags- use all 14 and make sure you use good key words (being a Canadian, I also need to recognize that we spell some words differently so I have to consider that as well i.e. colorful vs. colourful)
3. Shop Announcement- Keep it short and direct people to your policies if you have more to say. You need to see some items in that opening shop page or people will navigate away.

Check out the esty shop make-over article for some great ideas!!

So yesterday I decided to set out a plan of action:
1. Get myself set up and organized to put this plan in motion. This means I need to go out and get a new light for my light box, bristol board to use as a backing and figure out what props I need for my pictures
2. start re-taking photos and playing with picasa
3. look over my product descriptions and add/subtract text, ensure spelling is correct
4. tags!!!!
5. invest in a new banner and avatar (I have been planning on doing this for a while, because I want to develop a consistent brand)

My goal is to have this complete by Friday, January 16th and I want as much help as I can get, so I am engaging the etsy army. I encourage people to check out my shop and let me know what I can do to improve the look and feel- be gentle!!!

Twitter me crazy...

2009-01-07T08:35:00.000-08:00

Well I do have to say that have become quite enamored with the idea of twitter. I recently signed up and have been thoroughly enjoying learning about other people, visiting their blogs and shops. I originally joined to promote both my artfire and etsy shops, but it has gone beyond that now. I am now able to connect with people who have like interests and broaden my scope of knowledge about everything else that is out there.

I have also learned about some interesting opportunities to earn some additional cash through promoting on twitter:

TwittAd: TwittAd was formed to give Twitter users and advertisers the opportunity to meet for product placement & website promotion on a Twitter user profile. Our goal is to not fill Twitter with ugly & obnoxious advertisements. We give advertisers templates and ideas to help keep the integrity of Twitter background images.

Magpie: :Magpie is an ad network for Twitter. Our customers sign up and create campaigns which consist of magpie-tweets (i.e. ads). Twitterers allow us to post magpie tweets among their tweets and for them to get paid for it.

Be a Smart Cookie!

2009-01-06T09:24:00.000-08:00

I have just begun reading the Smart Cookies Guide to Making More Dough and am in love with it. I find that is very practical and provides real ideas on how to improve your financial situation. I have to say that I practice many of the ideas that they promote, however I am looking forward to finding out how they recommend pursuing your own business (still a couple more chapters away). They also have a website where you can download all of the work sheets that they recommend in the book- very handy!!

Website: http://www.smartcookies.com/

Touche Organik

2009-01-05T09:12:00.000-08:00

It's official- I am now featured in a local shop and also on their website: http://www.organik.nb.ca/shop/index.php

Touche Organik is a shop that provides Eco friendly products for the home and garden including cleaning products, fertilizers, insect control, seeds...

Local Store to carry products!!

2008-12-28T18:49:00.000-08:00

I am hoping to have a local shop carry some of my new pendants in the new year. I have opened a shop on ArtFire and hope that the scrabble tile pendants and glass tile pendants will take off!! The shop address is http://EastCoastKitsch.artfire.com and I will still continue to carry my felted items in my etsy shop!!

Black Friday- Cyber Monday Sale

2008-11-28T05:02:00.000-08:00

*.·´) BLACK FRIDAY - CYBER MONDAY SALE
¸.·´¸.·*´¨) ¸.·*¨)
(¸.·´ NOV 28 - DEC 1

*****$1.00 SHIPPING ON EVERYTHING!!*****

http://eastcoastkitsch.etsy.com

TIE ONE ON!!

2008-09-02T05:29:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wondered what you could do with an old tie that you are no longer using? Why not make a chic cozy for you morning coffee? Doesn't your coffee deserve an opportunity to get dressed up and look smashing? This is a great way to re-use and give new life to an old tie that may have seen better days. These sleeves provide a bit of protection from the seering heat of your morning coffee and help reduce the waste of double-cupping or those disposible sleeves. When you are done your coffee, you can just throw the cozy back into your purse, briefcase or backpack and re-use it another day. What's even better is that you can have a variety of them, and coordinate them with your outfits- how fab is that?!?!

I have them available on my etsy site: http://eastcoastkitsch.etsy.com

Craft Show Tales

2008-08-23T15:11:00.000-07:00

So, last night I diligently did a practice set up for the craft show that I attended today. I was pretty pleased with with what I came up with considering that I only registered for it this week and did not have that much time to prepare. As I was setting up last night I quickly found out that despite the fact that I thought I didn't have enough merchandise to go to the show with, I surprisingly found out that not only did I have enough, but that I needed additional table room. I figured there wouldn't be a problem if I added a couple of tv tables to the mix and used them for a stand for my bags. It looked good, and provided a bit of variety.

Well.... that was not how things turned out...

I got to the craft show and low and behold, the tent that I was to be located in was over booked and I had to squeeze everything into the space that my table took- only 4 ft!!! I stole a bit of space with the chair I put next to the table- but holy moly- they didn't leave us much room!!

I was really happy with the way the day went!! Great sales and lots of prospects!!

Cuteable Feature

2008-08-21T04:37:00.001-07:00

I was so excited on Monday morning to receive an email from Lindsey at Cuteable informing that I had been featured on their blog!! I love the fact that there are great bloggers out there like Lindsey and the cuteable crew- they love finding and featuring great indie artists- THANKS SO MUCH visit them at: http://cuteable.com

You can see it on my etsy site at: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9470161

East Coast Kitsch Video

2008-08-14T10:31:00.001-07:00

Bring New Life to Old Sweater

2008-04-10T07:35:00.000-07:00

Bathurst, New Brunswick (April 10, 2008)- Designer Jane Murphy loves to come up with new ideas, so when she was cleaning out her closet one day and came across some old wool sweaters that didn’t fit anymore and were too tattered to send to a used clothing store she decided to create a new product with them. “I thought that if I washed the sweaters in hot, hot water they would thicken and create a felt-like material,” she explains, “and sure enough that’s what happened!”.

From that day on, she began designing items including various types of bags and unique household items. “I hate to see things being wasted, and like to use up all of my scraps, which lead to the creation of my coffee cup sleeves, which are actually the sleeve of the sweater”. Some of her designs even keep the shape of the sweaters that she has felted.

Along with these items, she also creates other products and finally opened up an online store to showcase her wares. East Coast Kitsch was launched in January, 2008 and is located at www.eastcoastkitsch.etsy.com. The online option allows Jane to create from her small community in Northern New Brunswick Canada and reach a worldwide audience.

This is a laptop case made out of an old sweater with a needle felted flower design

The Evolution of a Sweater

2008-03-28T10:54:00.000-07:00

I thought that it would be interesting to document the transformation of a sweater.

Here is the sweater pre felting. Note the cutting board underneath it:

This is the sweater after it had been washed in the washing machine and dried in the dryer at a very high heat!

These are the fruits of my labour! I have them both on my etsy site for sale:

http://eastcoastkitsch.etsy.com

I find it so fascinating to see what you can actually come up with if you aren't afraid to try something new!!

Inspiration: My two right shoes!

2008-03-23T10:19:00.000-07:00

Well throughout my life I have been known to do some pretty strange things ~the kind of stories that after I tell them, they shake their head and say "only you could do that" and this one is no different.

On Monday I had some time to kill before a meeting, so I ran into the adjacent mall and decided to do some quick shopping. I found a really cute pair of shoes for 25% off and thought I just had to have them. I was rushing so I grabbed a shoe, tried it on and decided that they would do.

I got home that evening and I was packing to go on the road for work and hauled out my new purchase and thought I would take them along. Well I took them out and thought something didn't quite look right, and of course I had purchased shoes for my right feet- never checking to see if I had a left and and a right shoe in the box- leave it to me- and they were two different sizes to boot!! To make mattters worse, I purchased the shoes in a city 2.5 hours away (I had to go to a meeting out of town), so it was going to be a bit of a challenge to return them...

Well I suppose there's always a silver lining. I came up with an idea to make a shoe bag to remember this adventure:
http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10470229

Happy St. Paddy's Day

2008-03-17T11:20:00.000-07:00

Well as good Irish Girl, I would like to wish everyone a Happy St. Paddy's Day! I will be heading out to celebrate this evening with other members of our local Irish Canadian Cultural Society group at a pot-luck and variety show. With my uncle as President, and my father as one of the talented acts in the variety show, I didn't have much choice.

For the pot-luck I thought I would create an Irish inspired dish- Potatoes~~

Yummy Potato Recipe

6 large potatoes peeled and cubed

cook and mash

Mix in:

1 large onion diced (finely diced)
1 package cream cheese
1 package sour cream
1 T garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and place in a baking dish

cook at 350 f for 45 minutes

garnish with chives or paprika

The Burnt Orange Bag

2008-03-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

This is my newest creation. I randomly came up with the design and remembered that I had these GREAT wooden handles that my mother bought me at a church yard sale. I am pretty happy with the outcome. You can check it out on my Etsy site!

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=10291729

My new project

2008-03-13T04:31:00.000-07:00

Well the other day I was deconstructing a sweater that I had felted and was left with the arms. I was trying to figure out a unique way of using them (I typically make bookmarks out of them), when I came up with the idea of making an Ipod Sleeve with it. Originally I thought that I might actually be able to actually not even have to sew the sides, however when I completed through my first run, I found out that when I put my Ipod into it, it was a bit too loose, so I created a new seam along the side, and now my Ipod fits snuggly into it. I suspect that with smaller sweater I might actually be able to avoid sewing the side seams, but others I will have to. It's just another way to recycle a great sweater!!

Randomness... Olives

2008-03-11T09:24:00.000-07:00

I don't know what it is about olives, but I love 'em... I could eat them all day if if it just didn't seem kind of strange. It's one of those things that when I was young, we ate them quite often. Actually every Christmas we would get a bottle in our stocking. Now as an adult, I always have some on hand and am frequently caught sneaking into my fridge for one or two. Mr. Pussy (my cat) LOVES olive juice- it has the same reaction for him as catnip- strange eh?

Is it wrong to be obsessed by your cats?!

2008-03-10T11:07:00.000-07:00

I love my Mr. Pussy (black) and Sam (orange)- these are our two cats or children I suppose!! We had both of them since they were kittens and it kills me when I have to leave town for work. I can understand missing them a little, but I sometimes think it is a bit much. When I am not on the road for work, I work from home, and have a nice little home office in our basement. My cats completely take over, and if I let them, they would sit across my desk (on my arms no less) and annoy me to death, yet it breaks my heart when I have to gently remove them and shut my door so I can get some work done. I feel so bad at times I want to cry...

I want to make them something crafty now and I have come up with an idea of of making little catnip mice out of felt...

Wool Sweaters... the thrill of the chase!!

2008-03-08T07:58:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I was scrounging around Value Village, and stumbled upon a ton of great wool sweaters for felting. I get so excited when I come across a find like this. I find it is hard to find wool sweaters, let alone ones in fun colours. I was elated to find stripey ones and colours that I didn't already have in my collection. I can't wait until my next trip. We don't have a great used clothing shop where I live, so I have to rely on shops in the other towns and cities that I visit while I am on the road for work. It's the thrill of the chase...

An idea...

2008-03-07T07:31:00.008-08:00

I came up with this idea last year to create my own wall hangings because I wanted to make my house a home. I embroidered flowers and such (that were in the in floor covering) on linen and then used card stock and framed them. I thought that this might be a neat idea to sell (in a smaller format)... I am still trying to get my head around how I would ship it, but I thought it might be a neat idea.

This isn't a great photo because if the glare, but I was happy enough with the way that they turned out (the one of the leaf is not the best because it it is too small in relation to the others, but I plan on fixing it at some point).

My advertising idea..

2008-03-05T15:23:00.000-08:00

Well today on the Etsy blogs there was a post on what you were going to do today to promote your shop. Well I decided that i was going to create a holder and some business cards that I could distribute throughout the provice. Because I travel throughout the province for my job, I have an opportunity to get the word out all over the place. It's amazing how many bulletin boards you see that you can post this kind of information on.

It's kind of hard to see, but I have a holder secured with ribbon (thought it might make it stand out), and then I shoved a bunch of business cards in the holder. I also included my info on the holder, incase all of the business cards are taken (x my fingers!!)

I think it is pretty important to get the word out in a variety of places including in your own backyard!

My "home away from home"

2008-03-04T17:14:00.000-08:00

Well I travel about 25% of my time for work, so I get to stay in a lot of hotels. Tonight I was lucky enough to get a "honeymoon suite"!! Ha, ha... not really what I needed, but it's nice to relax in luxury with my "fake" fire. I have transformed my "living room" into my crafting room for the night. I always manage to bring along something to play with while I am on the road. It keeps me sane!

When I am on the road I visit all of the second hand shops to look for wool sweaters that I can felt. Tonight I had a blast! I found a ton of them. I get so excited when I find new ones. I never really realized how hard it is to find wool sweaters. I can't wait to get home and start felting them!!

My Craft Room

2008-03-04T03:50:00.000-08:00

This is my glorious craft room! I am feeling super closed in, but this is all the space I have. I would love to take over another room in the house, but that won't be happening anytime soon!! I need some solutions for my storage issues- it drives me nuts to have everything overflowing, and my closet doors (which you don't see!!) won't close half the time. (check out my Care Bears- they were both given to me as gifts in the past couple of years- they watch over me!!)
I want to start getting things up on my wall to inspire me, but I am thinking that it might just add to the chaos.

SNOW!!!

2008-03-03T04:07:00.000-08:00

Will it ever stop snowing? It's been a crazy insane year for snow. I really don't mind the snow all that much, but enough is enough. the worst of it, is that we still have another storm coming on Wednesday. On the brighter side- the sun is shining and it is beautiful to see the nice white snow shimmering!!

This is my backyard early this morning. Our wood pile is completely covered!!

Sales on Etsy

2008-03-02T14:44:00.000-08:00

I get so excited when i get a sale on my Etsy site. The thrill of somebody actually wanting to buy something you have made is absolutely thrilling. I just had a sale and am on top of the world. It may sounds silly, but it makes it all worthwhile. I do feel however, a bit of anxiety in parting with the stuff I make, but I know the items are going to a good home!!

My esty site...

2008-02-29T12:52:00.000-08:00

www.eastcoastkitsch.etsy.com

Crafting away

2008-02-29T12:16:00.000-08:00

I really love to craft... but I do have a hard time reigning in my energy and figuring out what exactly is my niche. Some days it's felting, other days its knitting, embroidery....