Engagement Marketing - podcast

I really enjoy listening to the CraftyPodcasts by Diane. She really hits the nail on the head sometimes! I really got a kick out of this podcast about Engagement Marketing and blogging. If you are someone looking to blog for business it would be a good idea to listen to this.

http://www.craftypod.com/2010/01/01/craftypod-106-engagement-marketing-for-your-crafty-business/

Good luck with all your blogging!

The Journey of a Unicorn Hat

This hat has a long story! A friend of the customer saw me at Hip Happening and told her about me and my crazy unicorn hats. She looked for my info from the vendor list of Hip Happening from Stacey (She runs the Hip Happening craft show). Then she hunted me down on my website and then found out I was at the Saturday Market. When she got there I had just sold out of unicorn hats! The next day she showed up and the same thing happen. I knew I had to make this right so we put together a custom order for a purple and pink unicorn hat that would be made especially for her.

After pickup this hat made it's way to a very lucky girl on her Birthday. The magic of the unicorn will not be stopped! Thanks for the crafty network for making this happen. And also Stacey with Hip Happening! Also thanks to my customer for this great photo. :)

Always Forward

Sometimes someone else writes the words that I couldn't find. This has been on my heart since I moved into my new place and since I started this business and took the plunge forward. It's interesting because not too many people write about the endings. They are just as important as beginnings.

http://marissabracke.com/forward-from-the-precipice-of-completion


With every ending there is a new beginning waiting for you.

I'm processing a lot right now. I'm thinking about the apartments I've left behind, the lost friends, the lost roommates, the ending of relationships. Every path has a beginning and an end. I find it very hard to deal with the endings because I can't seem to believe that there really is a better beginning waiting for me. I want to hold on to that story and not let it fade away. It was scary to loose my job. It was scary to be kicked out of your home and have to find a new safe place to live and work. There was a lot on the line. I made it through though and now I'm coasting on that high you get from finishing something and seeing it through.

I also see a path in front of me that is full of new challenges. Every time though I gain a little more faith because I got to see first hand that I can do it and that whatever you dream of can come true. I keep dreaming bigger and bigger. What I want out of life is different than other people and I'm finally ok with that. It's awesome to give yourself permission to live a dream life and not limit yourself to what you think you should be doing.

Now I have a new home and a new studio. I have a thriving business doing something that I love with customers that are awesome and supportive. I'm having so much fun and enjoying my life day by day. I can only take it step by step and one obstacle at a time. I'm only one person. I'm not a super hero. I just have a dream and want to do what I love. I want to inspire everyone around me. I want to live a happy life.

Always forward to new paths...

New Art Studio

This is how my studio currently looks. I'll be unpacked soon!

I'm in love.. never moving again!

This place is more like home to me than anywhere I have ever lived before. This is the perfect place to be vivacious and enjoy my new life. A life full of color and happiness and cute little creatures. This is the lair of the lolly-tots queen. Oh yes many happy things will come from here! This is where the magic will happen.

I can already see the happy visitors and the game nights and the tea parties! I can finally be the happy hostess again. The place is warm and cozy and no more cold days dragging the electric heater around. Check out the new curtains I made for my dish shelf. So cute!

My first meal in the new place and a peek at my new crockpot. Yeah lots of cooking will be going on here with or without a kitchen! I feel very European. :)

New Apartment!!!

I'm beyond happy right now. I actually go to sleep at night thinking that I'll wake up and this would all have been a dream. I can't believe I got EXACTLY what I was looking for and so much more! I have the cutest little apartment all to myself. I have a huge art studio space where I can work from home. I have the coolest neighbors and a house full of four friendly cats. I wanted a cat for so long and I kept envisioning this orange tabby. I was all set to get one when I moved here. That's until I met Max. He's this super friendly orange tabby that loves to follow people around and get them to pet him. I made the mistake of petting him and now he follows me EVERYWHERE. I was sitting here in my awesome room thinking about how perfect this all was and he curled up on my chest and purred away. My heart wanted to explode with gratitude.

This will be awesome for me. Expect great things coming your way! I feel so inspired and this place is just oooozing creativity. I'm so close to finishing unpacking my art supplies and then it's sew, sew sewww! Here's a peek at what the place looks like so far!




Next I need photos of my new crock pot, hot plate, and toaster oven. I also made some awesome curtains for the shelf unit in the kitchen area and got a hot pink curtain for the studio door. It's all really coming together! I have been nesting like crazy. SO HAPPY.

Can Do Attitude

you really need to check out this blog: http://marissabracke.com/

It's full of tons of business goodies!

Happy Customer Photos

I am sending out a big THANK YOU to everyone that has supported me in the last year. I wouldn't be here if it wasn't for your words of encouragement. Thanks to my friends that told me I should be making hats and was crazy to think they wouldn't be a hit. It was these friends that kept me going back to my sewing machine and inventing new styles. It was my friends who were the first to see my new creations. It was my friends that were my early models. It was my friends that were my first customers! I live off of this positive energy and I want you all to know that I am eternally grateful for all of you.

Now a big thank you to all my etsy customers that send me awesome photos! You guys rock! When I send out these hats to you I don't get to see your reaction, I don't get to see it on your head. So these photos fufill that part of me that worries if you are happy. I hope you enjoy these hats for years to come. x0x0x lovely people. :)

I love my cute customers!

These people make my day. This is why I sew all week and work like crazy!

Oh and that is my new owl hat you see there! The design has been perfected and it will soon be up in my online store. These two lovely ladies were the first to take one home.

18 hats finished!

I managed to finish off 18 hats this week. Included in this stack is a furry bull, lots of unicorns, a couple monkeys, new owl hats, dinosaurs and lots of furry kitties.

I'll be at the Saturday Market only one day this weekend. Then two weekends off. One weekend to move and one weekend for Easter.

See you at the market tomorrow?

Moving Sucks

Here I am again. Familiar territory, familiar process it never does get easier does it? Until this year I've moved every year for almost 8 years. That is a LOT of moving. I'm trying to cut down on it but something always seems to come up the next year in and circumstances force me to make the plunge. Let's not get into details of the previous moves.. oh damn that brings up bad memories!

Every time I move I use this opportunity to start with a fresh clean slate. There always seems to be something bad that I need to leave in the past. There is always things that I haven't used and are cluttering up my life. Now is the time that I re-evaluate my life and everything in it. What is valuable enough to MOVE?

This time around I am getting rid of things I have held onto since childhood. Why do I have these things? What memories do they hold? What purpose do they serve by sitting here in this box for years and years?

I am getting rid of old artwork. Just because I MADE it doesn't mean I need to keep it forever. I threw away all my design work from college. Do I really need to be reminded of what a horrible designer I used to be?

The biggest part of this move is that I'm downsizing in a big way. I'm shifting my focus on to saving and paying off debts. I'm going to live a simpler life and give up everything I can so I can focus on the bare essential of my life. These things are clutter. They are unnecessary and take up space. I want space again. I want only what I need. I don't want to save things for a future that may never come. I want to break free and live in the NOW.

I'm moving into a little studio apartment with just me and my dreams.

Living cheaply, living simply.

Living for the now.

Leaving a lot behind.

Silly Hats At The Saturday Market

I'm having fun at the market. I really feel like it's a good fit for me and my hats. I am the booth that people can stop at and dress up and take goofy photos. They can say what a day they had visiting Portland! They met this weird crazy kid dressed in a pink fuzzy cat costume. I love all the smiles and the laughter. It keeps me happy for days and days. I'm thankful too all of you that visited and said hello! Please tell everyone you know!

Shopping Cart Craziness!

It was a normal day at the Saturday market until Shopping Carts started zooming by! Screaming and yelling and awesome costumes. What was this all about?

I saw them last year but I still haven't found out exactly what this is. So far what I know is that they bar hop, drink lots of beer, race around in costumes and carts and make a lot of rukus. I think it's about drinking, dressing up and keeping Portland weird.

I bet they didn't expect a big pink furry monster to pop out and take photos of them!
Thanks guys for keeping Portland weird and random. You made my day.











Did you see Captain Crunch?

Goggles - version 2

Here is my second version of my goggles. This pair was made with plastic bottle caps found at my local SCRAP store. For this version I wanted to use recycled materials so I could make them eco-friendly and wasn't wasting new materials on an experiment. I really want to make more in the future to sell with my hats. They are going to go over big with the Saturday Market crowd! I spraypainted the bottle caps and added thumb tacks to the sides. A few holes drilled in the sides and I sewed it on the leather. The lenses are from a yellow plastic sheet that I found at SCRAP as well. I'm totally making more of these! You should see how many caps they have that you can use!

The second pair was based on a tutorial I found on instructables : http://www.instructables.com/id/Goggles/ I used a plastic soda bottle for the lenses and didn't cut the plumbing tube I just found the top screws and use those. Home Depot is full of useful parts!

New Monster Hats!

I've been having some fun sewing this week. Check out my new goggles and fur hats! I also made some furry gloves to go with my hats.

Fun photo shoots and a great weekend ahead. Things are getting more and more crazy around here but every week I know more and more that I am doing what I love and that this is going to be the coolest job ever.

Steampunk Goggles!

I've been a little obessed lately with Steampunk and goggles and cool accessories for my hats. This is my first pair that I finished up this week. There was a lot of frustration and blood but they are DONE! thick leather needs to have holes pre-punched. Trying to push your needle through the layers makes the needle push back into your THUMB.. ouch! My fingerprints are permanently marked from my sewing. My thumb and middle finger both have marks from needles. You think that after being poked so much I would be immune to the pain.. no it still hurts every time! I need to find a thimble that I can actually use that will fit my finger and be flexible. I'm thinking rubber cap that is shaped like your thumb. Oh yeah like what secretaries use for handling paper! I am on a hunt for this perfect thimble. My thumbs have suffered enough!

These goggles were made from pipe ends (for the metal round part), leather scraps, elastic for the straps and for the lenses I used a green soda bottle. My second version came out even better and I have so many more to come. I will take photos and post them soon!

My goal is to make them almost entirely from recycled materials and sell them as accessories to my hats. It's FUN and they are USEFUL and they will make you look even cooler.

Goggles rule..

SATURDAY MARKET OPENING!

The Portland Saturday market will be opening this very weekend! I am so excited to be one of the vendors that will be attending. (That's if I get a spot.. I am on the bottom of the list this year! ahh!) Either way I'm happy to be returning to the sunshine and the people and the community. I can't wait!

Also it's been the most beautiful weather lately so this weekend is going to be GORGEOUS!

I have saved my best hats for this weekend. I just finished sewing up a ton of fuax fur wolves, foxes and bears. Today I'm going to try and finish off some cats and unicorns. There are hats that you can only get from me directly as I can't post every hat I have up on etsy. So seeing me in person you get a great selection and don't have to pay shipping! Also you get to see the artist in person.

Come and see me this weekend! It's going to be an awesome weekend and what a great way to celebrate spring!