The Daily Crafter

Life is Like A Video Game-

2010-05-04T11:53:00.000-07:00

Life is like a video game

This occurred to me as I was taking a break from obsessing over business licenses and permits by playing Farmville on face book,a silly little game that I have become not only become successful at but obsessed with.

At Farmville I have accomplished, conquered and achieved awards for most of the challenges that have been presented-Sure there have been failures along the way, some task that I was unable to achieve simply because I either didn't have the skills, the means or the friends to accomplish the task at that time, but did that stop me from playing these games? No, I continued on, achieving greater measures of success.

I am currently in the process of trying to master all plants- each time you harvest a plant you get a mastery point – when you get the required mastery points for each of the three mastery levels you get a star , when you get all three stars you have Mastered that plant and receive a mastery sign with a picture of the plant you have mastered-and for some darn reason I want those signs.

Let me tell you those mastery signs are not easy to get- it takes time, dedication and persistence, but it can be done. Sometimes I get side tracked from my goal by helping out friends with there co-ops,stopping just to chat, harvesting trees,collecting from animals,or raising a new building in the community, but I always go back to it- concentrating on my goal in order to achieve the ultimate prize... a virtual mastery sign.

It then occurred to me that these are the very skills I need to succeed not only in creating my own successful business, but in life – if I take the time- dedicate myself to my goals and be persistent, no matter what obstacles are thrown in my path- I will achieve success.

As long as I remember to take it one plot, I mean one step at a time I will get there.Be persistent even when I get sidetracked, accept that there are things I may not be ready to accomplish or may never be a able to accomplish,know that some goals will take longer than I expect them to– Stop to take the time to connect with friends, give back to the community, tend to the things in my life that can't tend to themselves, Work hard and and most of all enjoy the process, then and only then will I be successful.

Tesa

Creating a crafty career-Getting Started

2010-05-03T10:31:00.000-07:00

Since I am I am trying to make real money on this crafty adventure and want to be taken seriously as a professional crafter then I need to take some necessary, boring and scary steps. So I am gonna try to act like a real grown up, put on my big girl costume and apply for the necessary licenses and permits to become a legal and viable business. Here is the list of licenses and permits I have found needed in my area to run a business legally.

business licenses, county, city and state
fictitious business name
resale license
business checking account

so over the next few weeks I will be applying for the above licenses, permits and opening a business checking account.- this for me is going to be the most difficult hurtle- I'd much rather be crafting

Tesa

Creating a crafty career- My journey of making money and earning a living with crafts

2010-05-02T07:39:00.000-07:00

Have you ever wanted to make money with your crafts? Felt that you had more to offer the world?Wanted to share not only your handcrafted creations but pass on your crafting skills?

Then you are no different from me, For years I have wanted to make money with my crafts- other people do it, so why can't I? I am reasonably intelligent, I have a wealth of crafting knowledge and skills that I would love to share,I have spent years cultivating and perfected many crafting techniques-and I have been designing my own crafts since the age of 8- You would think I have everything I need to succeed in the business world of crafts,right?

So why am I not doing it? What is holding me back?? The simplest answer is me- I lack the confidence to put my self out there, I mean really put my self out there for the world to see-

I invite all of you to follow me on my journey through the business world of crafts, Over the next few months I am going to try many different techniques to get my crafts and my knowledge of crafts out there in a quest to earn a living- not just make some money, but enough money to actually live on.

I am going to try different money making techniques using my crafts and skills and post it here-I will let you know what works and what fails, -I will reveal the pros and cons of it all the different techniques and what I have learned along the way

It's gonna get pretty bumpy and it may not be pretty but here I go...

Tesa

Tea Tree oil Soap

2009-10-01T15:56:00.000-07:00

Tea tree oil is excellent for treating acne, I have used it for some time now to treat acne I get on my chest and arms and was looking for a soap that would help with my condition when it hit me, Tea tree oil soap and since I already had everything I needed, I made my own. I used 4 ounces of melt and pour glycerin soap with 1 Tablespoon of tea tree oil, color and pearl powder was optional but I like my soap to have color:

the largest bar was cast from a recycle computer mouse package, I loved the shape as soon as I saw it and threw it in with my soap making supplies, It is the perfect size and shape for your hand

Silhoutte tree with mini tutorial

2009-09-30T15:20:00.000-07:00

When I started this blog I knew I wanted some props to help with photography,

I decided to make some and came up with this when I discovered 1/4" fun foam

Come to think of it this tree would be awesome for Halloween,

I just might have to make some polymer clay ornaments to go with it

To make your own you will need:

one sheet 1/4" fun foam ( I purchased mine at Michael's )

craft knife

the pattern

trace pattern onto funfoam using a sharp craft knife cut out

the finished tree is 8 inches high and is 6 inches at the widest point

Sea Turtle necklace

2009-09-26T14:19:00.003-07:00

Polymer clay sea turtle with pearls and glass beads

Button bracelet

2009-09-25T14:09:00.000-07:00

created with buttons, polymer clay spacer bar, magnetic clasp and beading thread

this is the back so you can see it's construction done with a needle and beading thread

2009-09-24T17:37:00.001-07:00

Jalapeno Box

2009-09-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite polymer clay project a polymer clay box- I think the face came out great, but the conceal hiding place for small trinkets makes this project special- I plan on doing similar projects but in different shapes.

If you see any project here you would like to learn more about feel free to contact me and let me know, If it's a good candidate it could be featured as a tutorial

All Hallow's Eve- Altoid tin

2009-09-22T16:40:00.000-07:00

My very first Altoid tin just in time for Halloween covered with polymer clay

The hand separates into two pieces when opened

Vampire bad necklace

2009-09-21T15:25:00.000-07:00

Yay! more Halloween crafting.

polymer clay bat with red seed bead eyes , black and red glass beads on satin cording.

Fast, fun and easy!

full view

and up close

Inchies Halloween Hanger

2009-09-20T15:35:00.000-07:00

Inchies are 1"x1" art used for swapping- I created these inchies on card stock using rubber stamp and painting with acrylic paint, I used scrapbook paper to frame each inchie, sandwiched a piece of ribbon between two inchies using 4 sets or 8 total to create the hanger below (front and back are shown)

I finished the ends of the ribbon with decorative beads

Skull and roses resin magnet

2009-09-19T17:43:00.000-07:00

The Skull, roses and leaves were sculpted out of polymer clay the cast in clear resin, using a star shaped ice cube tray, the black background are seed beads

MIni Paper sculpted pumpkin

2009-09-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

The Fall/Halloween crafting begins

This pumpkin was crafted using 8 paper circles cut with a paper punch, the circles were then folded in half and the halves glued together to form the pumpkin shape, I then rolled the stem out of green paper jellyroll style and attached it to the pumpkin with white craft glue

Mother of pearl onyx necklace

2009-09-17T14:55:00.000-07:00

I needed a necklace in brown to go with several outfits and came up with this

the picture doesn't do this necklace justice, in the light it sparkles

Skull and Roses Barrette

2009-09-16T12:56:00.000-07:00

Polymer clay skull and rose barrette

Craft Storage jars with chalkboard labels

2009-09-15T15:49:00.000-07:00

Like many crafters I am always on the look out for craft storage, recently I stumbled upon these jars and just knew they would be perfect for storing all those small craft pieces that I have strewn all over the place.

I knew I wanted some sort of label on the jars to help identify content, size, etc. after a

little bit of thought I remembered I had a jar of chalkboard paint that had been waiting

for a suitable project. But how was I going to keep the paint from scratching off the jars?

Glass etching cream of course, and so my chalkboard labels became a reality

And here's how I did it

first I created a template that I could trace around that was the size and shape I wanted my labels to be (to create my template I use packaging plastic, you know the packages that you need scissors or a knife to get into.I always save the packaging to make templates and patterns of things I am going to make in quantity.)

Next I used double stick tape on one side of my new plastic template to hold it in place while I traced around the template onto the jar using a permanent marker. I removed the template and any glue residue that may have been left by the double stick tape being careful not to erase my newly drawn outline

Using an old brush and the glass etching cream I carefully filled in the drawn outline with glass

etching cream and allowed it to sit for 5 minutes (follow the manufacturers directions for

the appropriate time and safety precautions)

After the five minutes is up I rinsed off the glass etching cream and any remaining

permanent marker outline under running water and dried the jar thoroughly

Using the chalkboard paint, I painted over the glass etched label (this may took 4 coats of paint to get a good coverage)

I allowed each coat to dry 1 hour and 24 hours for the final coat I then conditioned the chalkboard according to manufactures directions.

There you have attractive, functional jars with labels that can be changed quickly as the jars contents change.

Angry American Plaques

2009-09-14T10:33:00.000-07:00

This plaque was a part of a www.craftsters.org challenge, craft a song,
After some thought and the purchase of a simple wooden plaque,and star hook
inspiration struck with the help of Toby Keith's Angry American, A little
acrylic paint and some polymer clay this is what I came up with:

The dog tags contain the lyrics:

Justice will be served and the battle will rage
This big dog will fight when you rattle his cage

And you'll be sorry that you messed with
the U.S. of A

Star hook was painted with acrylic paint.
The relief was created in polymer baked then attached to plaque

Lava necklace

2009-09-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

I just love this necklace the colors are so deep and luxurious, the pictures don't do it justice, It is made from lava, snowflake obsidian, hematite and garnet colored glass beads strung on coated Tigertail with a magnetic clasp

Skeleton Hand clutching egg

2009-09-12T15:29:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the Daily Crafter each day I will be posting a complete craft project and will be offering tutorials periodically, so be sure to check back often to see what is going on.

Today's craft project is skeleton hand clutching a skull egg

I created this by first covering a real blown chicken egg with polymer clay, I then sculpted the skeleton hand to the scale of the egg also using polymer clay