Ok, so now I'm a little pissed off

I was wandering through etsy, when I happened across this listing:



Nice kandi, right? Except it's stolen directly from kandi I sold nearly a year ago!



I checked their sales, and the first one they sold was waaay after I sold mine.

So I'm not sure what to do; on one hand, PLUR, and share happy things, and it's kandi, I shouldn't be a jerk about it, but on the other hand, I did design this and they are profiting off my design. What's worst is that they copied it almost EXACTLY, I have once extra layer of coloured beads on mine at the top and bottom, that's the only difference. The music notes are the same, and so is the spacing. They changed the colours slightly, but I sold a black and pink cuff so really they've only combined the two to get the colours.

The other thing is that I've moved away from making kandi, I spend much more time knitting and making ATCs now....so is it worth making them take down their design, since I'm not currently selling it? Tricksy questions. They've been selling a lot of this cuff, and for more than I sold mine. (Mine was $7 and theirs is $9.) So maybe I should start selling these again? For profit? I do need money...

There's a whole lot of kandi stores on etsy now. When I started my store, there was kandi being sold in other stores, but no other ones where kandi was the main thing being sold. There's now like 6 stores selling just kandi.

ACEOs

Actually going somewhere with the resolution to use etsy, more I've added two of my ATCs as ACEOs.



I've no idea if these will sell or not, but I'll give it a try anyway.

Handspun!

I finally spun a semi-useful amount of yarn! Here it is:



Fibres from Yarn Indulgences, it's "Organic Fibre," whatever that means. Hand dyed with food colouring. Slightly varicoloured with different shades of green. (There are occasional white bits, but I didn't want to dye it a third time, and they're not that noticeable.) Approx 106m, DK weight (it's a bit slubby, and varies between fine and worsted). Single ply. I might ply it at some point if I make something that would ply well with it, but no definitely plans atm.

Fuck, I just love yarn!

Unrelated to Crafts, mostly:

So I have an essay due tomorrow, but couldn't focus on it AT ALL, so I took some ritalin because it seemed like it might help (I'd never tried it before). It hasn't helped me work on my essay, but I've got lots of other things done. I've killed over 30 flies, watched their bodies get taken away by ants, updated my website (which now links here ftw!), and haven't gotten any crafts done at all because of pretending to do my essay. Which has not progressed at all. And now I keep getting dizzy every time I stand up - possibly because of food but maybe not? Anyhow, it's an interesting experience but possibly not the best decision I could have made.

Back to Crafts

I've decided I need to label my yarn bombs. I was at the Knit in Public Day (attempted to set record for most people knitting in public - but failed) and someone behind me was talking about the yarn bombing in uptown. I was all excited (that's me!) but then they said the Stitch 'n' Bitch group was doing it. I told them it was me but they didn't seem terribly inclined to believe me, which ticked me off a little. It's one thing to be anonymous, and another thing entirely to have someone else assigned the credit. So BAH, I want to label my tags!

One of the groups in the yarn bombing book has woven labels like in clothes - this really seems like the most appealing option. Paper is too flimsy unless laminated, and laminated just seems like too much work, or annoying, or something. Plus, textile art really ought to have textile tags, it just seems right. Edit: I've found a local-ish site which will do 100 for $10! Success, plus cheap shipping! They're printed and not woven, but hey!

If I EVER get around to making clothes, I think I'd like to get labels for those as well, be all professional and whatnot. Having a logo (logogogogogo) seems like a good plan too, so I'll talk to my sister about that...she is a fancy artist type.

Time for me to go fuck around on the internet some more.

Plans

I'm currently involved in a wonderful number of ATC trades. I'm also becoming more comfortable with different methods I use to create ATCs, which is nice, but I think it's time to start experimenting with other methods as well.

I really want to spend more time on fabric ATCs. While I've made a couple in the past, they were not all that complex or interestingly structured, and seeing various textile art pieces has really inspired me. I think I want to try embroidering some ATCs; I did embroidery and cross-stitch when I was younger, so I have an idea of where to start. My main problem is that I keep my sewing machine tucked away due to space issues, so every time I want to use it, it's more effort than I want to spend, especially if I'm only sewing one seam. But maybe if I start off with hand embroidery....

Finally, if anyone wants to buy me this, I would love you forever.

Yarn Find!

Oh man! So I was in a local thrift store wandering around, and discovered they had a yarn tub. All well and good, yarn is wonderful and completes my life, but I really don't need anymore shitty acrylic right now, BUT THEN! I found a skein of what looks to be some handpainted merino that's sold locally! So much excitement! AND I found a skein of Shetland wool, plus a bit of mohair. The best thing is, all of them together were only $2.16! So yes I am very pleased with myself right now.

Neglect

Oh dear I have been neglecting this blog! And I have been making crafts quite obsessively. I'm working on my third knitted shirt in two weeks! (It's so exciting, I don't have pictures, but it's this pattern.) It's a little ridiculous, but crafts are AWESOME. Plus I have no money so I never go out and do things.

It's interesting how much the ATCs I make have changed in the last few months...getting new craft supplies has a lot to do with that though, especially a set of acrylics!


I've also gotten some more rubber stamps. I really like stamping on an ATC background then washing it out with water, it blends the shapes and colours really nicely. Here's a couple cards where I've combined that technique with wire:




I'm also getting fond of using hot glue as a material in its own right. I wish I could dye it though...




Texture just seems to get increasingly fascinating the more I play with it. I'd never really thought about texture all that much, but working with (and cuddling) a lot of yarn, plus some drug experiences (sometimes drugs AND yarn!), have really helped me focus on it a lot more. Plus flat ATCs are boring!




I also now have an account on ATCs for all. It's a rather badly designed site, but there's a lot of spectacular art on there. (And of course some not-so-great-art, but that's only to be expected.) The best part is that everyone is so enthusiastic about trading, and I really like being able to pick the cards I get (that's my main problem with ATCs on swap-bot).


I have also been learning to spin! It's great but I'm not very good at it; try as I might I can't get non-slub yarn. Luckily I LIKE slub, but still. The biggest problem is that right now I only really want to make big projects (mostly tops) and I don't have the skill or patience to handspin enough yarn for one. Sigh. So my handspun is sitting around for now. But I have learned to ply on a drop spindle, plus dying yarn is SO MUCH FUN. I just love bright colours, and since I'm just using food colouring (with vinegar as a mordant) it's super easy to get them! Here's one example:



The fiber is this super-soft wool I get from Yarn Indulgences. This yarn is unplied and terribly slubby, but I just love the colours in it!

I've also been experimenting with some weirder fibers. I picked some dried milkweed fluff from a field which I'm going to try blending with wool. It's too short and straight to use by itself (at least I don't think I could), but it's sooooo soft and silky. I just need to pick out all the seeds first, which is going to take forever.

I also tried making plarn! I spun it as well, which was super easy since I didn't have to tease the fiber at all. It was much less satisfying though....probably for the same reason. So, to make it more interesting, I plied it with some polyfil I dragged back from Toronto. I like how the polyfil goes sort of puffy!




And, of course, I've been yarn bombing things! Here's a couple, both crochet: