New Shop!

I am going to officially announce that I am opening a second shop that will focus on fiber goods of all kinds: Fuzzy Hearts Yarn! It will (eventually) have all my knitted and crocheted goods, handmade needles, hand spun yarns, stitch markers, destashes... and what ever else I think might fit. I hope I can keep two shops straight... because that is my biggest fear that kept me from opening two shops for a long time. I felt that my first shop was just too cluttered and it was time. I will slowly be adding stuff from my current shop into my new one as they expire and list new stuff directly to my new shop. My first item is a lovely hat, if anyone is interested!

WIP: Felt and beaded double sided headband done!

I had this idea a while back for a felt headband with leather straps for ties. I kicked it around in my head for about a month then decided to try it. In that month, the headband grew a skull and sported some bead embroider. Oh, and it also became double sided. This first one I finished is just a prototype for me to keep.



It took a lot of energy to make it, so I am unsure if I will make more for my shop. I might (and I will probably break out my sewing machine next time instead of doing all of the stitching by hand). I am not completely happy with the quality of some of the felt (hint, dont use craft felt unless it is the thick kind).



I like the way it came out. I haven't gotten dreads yet to test it out, but that is why I gave it braided leather straps: so I could wear it with either 'normal' hair or dreads. I also love that it has two sides. It is more versatile that way. I am definitely going to make templates out of card stock next time!

I am a writer!!!

I wrote a little article about future fashion in Viva La Mode magazine! And it is now out on the web for everyone to look at! The whole magazine is a great read... so check it out! I hope to have time to write an article or two for the next issue too!

Product Review: Custom Thank You Stamp from Owlbaby

One fine day while twittering, I happened across a glowing recommendation from one of my followers beaming about her wonderful handmade stamp from a fellow etsyian. I saw the example she linked and saw the price... and I figured a handmade "thank you" stamp would look great on my recipes! After look at Owlbaby's shop, I was sold by the quality!

I contacted Owlbaby, and she was more than happy to do a custom stamp for me. Communication was quick and clear... which is a great thing when collaborating on custom items (and one of the key components in my opinion). She showed me to a page full of every kind of font you could imagine and I picked out one called "Burton's Nightmare" which is modeled after The Nightmare Before Christmas font. I also included in my stamp my cat face logo. Once I figured out how to send a rough sketch of the layout (I forgot that etsy will only allow you to send certain formats), it only took about a week to get my brand new, totally handmade stamp in the mail! The only thing I forgot to ask about was price (stupid me, totally my fault) but her stamps are very affordable!



Overall Impression: Wonderful work for a wonderful price. My roughly (I havent measured it) 2x2 inch handmade stamp was only about 10 bucks, with my pick of logo and font! Owlbaby was a joy to work with, and very quick! If you need any stamps made, I would definitly recommend Owlbaby!

(Photos used with permission from Owlbaby)

Blogging Hiatus

I know I have been a little lax on blogging lately, but I have some good reasons. Not only has my research life sorta taken off, but I have been doing a lot of custom orders etc for customers. I just haven't had the time to blog! I just sent off a great hat for a trade that I really am kicking myself now for not taking a picture of. The color combo was really nice and I wanted to show it off! I hope to make another similar one to sell, so we will see how that works out. I have to take photos to put it up on etsy right?! I have also been putting more items on sale, and in particular PIF sales, lately. I have sold a couple of older items that way too, which is great. My arm warmers seem to be doing good, sale wise. I even have two more pairs to put up in my shop, but the sun has not been cooperagting with me to get good pictures. Arm warmers also take more time to make than the hats, it seems, so that is another reason I haven't listed more. Keep checking my shop, because I hope to get more stuff in it soon! Enjoy a picture of my latest PIF sold!

WIP: Flower Hair Accessories

WIP
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

Pay no attention to the mess in my craft room! I went crazy last night with some fake flowers and hair clips and barrettes! I have to figure out which ones I like enough to keep, but I think I will put a few up in my etsy shop soon. If you see anything that you just have to know more about, just let me know! I had fun going to Joann's yesterday and browsing their 70% off flowers and just having fun mixing and matching. I cant wait until their fall/Halloween stuff goes on sale because those are more my colors. I want to get my hands on the fall leaves and possibly black flowers. Hot glue is a wonderful thing... except all those wispy thread things that get everywhere! I know the pink and while ones will go up... and I dont own any clothing that are either of those colors. I cant believe how large some of these are! Let me know what you think!

I also have been working with a new product; memory wire! I have a couple of things created that I will blog about later... and I hope those will go up in my shop too!

Product Review: William Blake Red Dragon Business Card Holder from Sweetheart Sinner

The environment in my book bag and/or purse can be very dangerous for small paper items like business cards. My pocket book is also so crammed with cards and IDs that I can only put maybe 3-5 business cards at a time, which can leave me without any easy to grab information about my business quick! In steps Sweetheart Sinners and her great metal business card holders! She has over 1000 to choose from, and that is about the only hard thing about picking out a holder. Picking out just one that would be me but still business appropriate was a bit hard. I decided on the one featuring William Blake's Red Dragon because I love anything Hannibal Lector related. The case itself is metal, which I hope will stand up well in the black hole which is my backpack. Both sides can be used for cards etc. which means I can fit about 15-20 cards on each side. I haven't tried it, but the listings also say you can fit an iPod Nano and earbuds in the case instead. The opening mechanism is easy to use and the tabs that keep the cars etc. in place are spring loaded. The image is nice and clear, but I have only been using it for the past couple of days, so I have no idea how it will hold up in the long term... but so far so good!

Overall Impression: I like the price and room in this holder, but I have yet to really put it through it's paces.

Auto Show Photos!

Blast Off
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

This weekend my husband and I went to a little local auto show and I had a great time taking photos! We even got the best tour of the show on a 1905 crank driven car there from a local museum! Come and take a look at all the new greeting card stock I have! If you see anything you like, please let me know! The photos that I included with this blog is one of my favorites, but I have a whole mess more! The colors and reflections were a treat and a pain to photograph. Enjoy!

Treasury Spot!

orangetreasury
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I found out today, after listing a new key chain featuring my photography on both sides last night, that I am in an orange themed treasury today! I am so excited! The treasury can be found HERE but since it wont last forever, I have also included a picture of it! Thank you so much galla15!

Product Review: Car Sticker from ceejay77

Look at my new car sticker!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I just have to show off my newest advertisement adventure! This wonderful decal provided by ceejay77, who can be found on etsy! I ordered a two lined vinyl decal with my etsy website and "Unique Accessories". The dimensions for the piece are 24 inches long and 5 inches high. ceejay77 has a wide range of fonts to choose from, but I chose the one I thought would be the easiest to read, which was "Elephant". I absolutely love the way it turned out. ceejay77 includes instructions for applying the decal in the listing, which makes it easy to find and print out. The decal also came really quickly and packaged securely.

Overall Impression: I love my decal and if I ever need another one, I will defiantly use ceejay77 again! Great value, great customer service!

Work Frenzy!

Work Frenzie!
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

A friend of mine got me on an earring kick the other night and I ended up making just about 30 pairs of earrings in one night! I have no idea when I will find the time to photograph them all and list them. I really love when I get creative spurts, but then having to follow through... yikes! Most the earrings are smaller, simpler designs and will probably be prices in the 3-5 dollar range depend on. I also have a few more styles of "Geisha Head" earrings, but those run about 10-15. If you look closely you can see some body part jewelry making a reappearance! I finally found a couple of yard sales that had old Barbie's for a decent price this year! It only took me ALL year to find them! Some more cha-cha style bracelets are on the horizon too, along with my first ever wire ring. Keep checking my shop as I try to list all these in the next... I dont know, month?!?

UPDATE: I just finished a massive photo session and if you want to see a taste of what I had on my work bench, take a look!

Product Review: 10 Random Themed Gothic 1 Inch Pinback Buttons from Button Empire

I have been meaning to review these wonderful buttons for ever... I got them back in February... but I have just been so busy. This is actually my second purchase from this seller and I am extremely happy with the quality of these stylish buttons. This wonderful seller is Button Empire on Etsy. The first time I discovered Button Empire, I got a gift for my husband and I. It was a cute pair of his and her buttons that says "I'd rather be smooching my nerdy husband" and "I'd rather be smooching my crafty wife". The are just adorable! I mentioned quality earlier... and let me tell you, these buttons are tough little buggers! I have a jean jacket that I love to stick buttons and patches on, so my buttons go on that. My husband has no such button displaying device, so he put it on one of his button down shirts. This shirt went through 2 complete wash and dry cycles and it was no worse for wear. No rusting, bleeding or fading. I was just amazed! Because of this, when I saw that Button Empire offered a random bunch of 10 gothic themed buttons I jumped on it! I have a weakness for randomized things and grab bags. When my package came speedily in the mail I couldnt wait to rip into it and see what I got. I got quite the pick, from skeletons, anatomical diagrams to comic book vampires. Button Empire also included 3 freebie buttons... pink and flowery.... but I found a place for them.

Overall impression: Great value and awesome (laundry defying) quality. Once I find some more room on my jacket, I hope to get some more!

Product Review: Ad Campaign Designed by Fauxtograph

I have come to the terrible realization that I have 0 talent or patience when it comes to creating graphics. When I needed help in redesigning my banner, Fauxtograph was kind enough to help me out with a fair trade. Now you can see that beautiful piece of work all over all my various websites. I recently discovered Project Wonderful (as you can see from the new ad spots on my blog!). I tried again to make some small ads to start advertising all over the web, and I got the same horrible results I normally get. I caught Fauxtograph in the Red Chat room on etsy and asked if she could help me out. Fauxtograph then created the beautiful ads that you see before you! That isnt all of them, but you get the idea of the great quality. I love them, and I hope that you see them around the web!

Overall Impression: Fast, beautiful and affordable ads with wonderful customer service. I would recommend Faux's services to anyone looking for some design work!

Product Review: Matte PVC Surgical Mask from Black Orchid Designs

I have been wanting a simple black surgical style mask for years, but all the searching I have done on the internet has yielded me either very intricate and massive mask (like this one) or very expensive ones (like this). I didnt want a big investment in my first mask if I didnt like them. Thankfully, I found Black Orchid Designs on etsy! I had hearted her shop a while ago because of some of the wonderful and affordable items she has in her shop. When I first decided to look into her shop to fulfill my mask needs, no plain black masks were listed so I convoed her to see if I could get a custom mask done. Black Orchid told me that she was actually listing exactly what I wanted in a few days, so I could just order that. I was so excited! Two things to keep in mind when ordering from Black Orchid is that:
1. She is in Canada, so it may take a little longer if you are ordering from the US etc.
2. Her default shipping method is air mail, which is fairly expensive. To get ground mail, which is more affordable (but takes longer) just contact her and she can arrange that.
All that being said, it took my mask about 2 weeks to get to me (using ground mail and I am in the US). The package was plain and only contained my mask wrapped in some tissue paper, but everything arrived just fine and in one piece. I am very happy with Black Orchids customer service, price and product. It is hard to find affordable gothic style clothing and accessories and Black Orchid Designs is a great shop for those of us who love style but dont have a lot of money to spend creating it. All in all, my mask with ground shipping cost me under 7 dollars!
Overall impression: I love Black Orchid and would recommend her to anyone!

Congrats fauxtograph!

Well, my "Name the Hat" Contest is over... and the winner is Fauxtograph with "The Amazing Technicolored Dream Hat"! Fauxtographs entry garnered 37% of the total vote. It was a close race and I want to thank everyone that entered. I hope you all had fun. Fauxtograph has won a $5 gift code to my etsy shop and free shipping on their order! Look for The Amazing Technicolored Dream Hat in my shop soon!

Name the Hat Contest Part 2

First off, thank you to everyone that entered my contest! It was a great showing with nearly 40 comments, many of which had multiple names! It was hard to narrow it down to just five, but we did it. Drum roll please....

The five finalists are:
fauxtograph with "The Amazing Technicolored Dream Hat"
heatherfuture with "Grannystafarian"
gypsycaster with "Reclaimed Rainbow-licious!!"
quietsleeper with "Dandy Candy Tam"
tjmetz with "Fantasta Rasta"

The voting will go on for one week, at the end of which, the winner will be notified and told how to claim their prize. Good luck to all of the finalists!

Brand New Blog Contest!!!

This is the official announcement of:

Fuzzy Izmit’s Homemade Tomfoolery’s Name the Hat Contest!

I need your help! I am having trouble coming up with a name for the latest hat I created. This hat is created from granny squares from an old forgotten ugly afghan. As you can see, the hat is quite colorful and it is not my normal style… which is why I am having trouble naming it. All I can come up with are names like “Rainbow Puke” or “Ugly Hat” which probably doesn’t make this hat as appealing as it could be. That is where you guys come in. I want you everyone out there in internet land to help me come up a name! Your job is to come up with as many (family appropriate) names as you can and leave them as comments here on this blog. You can enter as many times as you want, just make sure that your comment has some way for me to contact you (like you sn and site you found this from etc.) if you name is picked. Any names deemed offensive or inappropriate will be deleted. Please do not list names more than once, only the first person to list a name will be counted. This "brain storming" phase of the contest will run until April 26^th. At that point, the five best will be placed in a poll (also on this blog) and after a week, the name with the most votes wins!! The inventor of the winning name will receive a $5 gift code they can use in my shop and free shipping on anything they order at that time. I will also give you credit (if you wish) when I list this hat!

On to the hat! Like stated before, this is made from granny squares and is (to the best of my knowledge) make from 100% acrylic yarn. I have a few squares left, so I may make a few more similar, but each one will be unique because no two granny squares are the same! There is elastic cording that helps to keep it on your head and it is made to keep a bushel of dreads under (colorful) wraps. Hopefully with a great name this special hat will find a good home!

Good luck!

Premium Personal Bacon

Bacon1
Originally uploaded by fuzzy_izmit

I am now the proud seller of a line of felted bacon products! As of right now I have 6 pieces of felted Peruvian wool bacon and I am slowly posting them on my etsy shop. I love contributing to the bacon frenzy that is blazing across etsy! I know I personally have bought bacon fudge, bacon lip balm and a bacon scented candle from etsy (a few of which I also blogged about!). There is also an "I [heart] BACON" necklace made by Lady Spleen I am coveting too...

I hope to photograph and list more bacon and head bands soon, but with my brand new camera I need work out the bugs with it.

Enjoy the joy of bacon!

I've been featured!

I have been featured on Nurses Naturally's blog! Come check it out!

Nurses' Blog.

Thanks Nurse!

More Photo Questions!

I am working the bugs out of my new light tent and props, and I thought I would get a critique of how it is going. I just listed an item using my new set up... and I will show you a similar item from before with my old set up. Please tell me what you like/dislike about both. I want to make my photos as good as they can be!

New: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=9974021

Old: http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=8979853


If you want, take a look at my flickr for more examples of the shots I am taking with this new set up!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/fuzzyizmit/