Light of Spring

I now have 2 treasury easts, so exciting!  I wonder who has the most.  Maybe there has been someone out there making a treasury a day.

I am very excited about this treasury.  It came into being naturally, but I think the thing that they all have in common is the light of a beautiful sunny spring day.  I'm in love with the fox photo.  I get chills looking into that little fox's eyes..

So click click click, I want to find out that treasury easts get just as many views as the old treasuries!

Peanut Butter Jelly Time

I made my first popsicle out of the book pops!  This one is peanut butter and jelly, and it really does taste like a peanut butter and jelly sandwich!  It's made of peanut butter, yogurt, honey, juice and fruits.  I made some with grape and some with raspberry.

Hopefully when I get the time I'll make some banana, which is what my roommate and boyfriend are excited about.  I saved some of the peanut butter mixture, so hopefully it'll be a little more painless next time. 
Although this is my first out of the book, I've made a few of my own creation: a berry mint, and coco coconut.

I'm going to keep experimenting, and when I come up with a good one I'll post the recipe here.  Next I'm thinking grapefruit, rosemary.  Sounds weird I know, but the flavors are surprisingly good together!

Etsy Treasury East

 (My previous mini treasury, fleshed out into a big girl treasury)

click to see it in action!

Etsy has premiered in beta, the new treasury east.  It is in a land of unlimited treasuries without expiration.  Initially I was amazed and excited, but then I realized, there has to be a catch...

Never again will I have to sit by my computer, antsy to see the magic number of 332.  Never again will I have to organize my day around when the treasury is opening.  Never again will I have a beautiful treasury just waiting in poster sketch for the rare opportunity to be published for a mere 2 days.

It's just a little too good to be true.

Then I made one.  I like the new set up, there's more space, and if you don't feel like filling up all the spaces, there aren't just blank holes.  I struggled with making my treasury publish (you have to hit enter, simple enough, but I'm very stuck in the old ways of treasury).  No big deal, just small changes to get used to.

The real problem showed it's face a little later.  I made this treasury 2 days ago, and it has approximately 2 views.  I didn't contact all of the featured artists.  I decided that with the high frequency of never-ending treasuries that could actually be a little like spamming (etsy has always said that contacting the featured artists is spam.  Wha-what?).  I did post it on twitter.

The problem seems to be that unless you launch a full on campaign, it's very difficult to get seen among the masses in an unlimited space.  It's a problem that seems to be showing up across etsy, as the community grows larger and larger.

So, there are positives and negatives with the new treasury system.  Along with all of the other changes that etsy is making, I'm sure we have yet to see all of the many ways that it may rock our little etsy world!

Hoarding

There's a new show on TLC about people who hoard.  Their houses are wall to wall covered with stuff.  My friend Elizabeth was talking about how she saw an episode where the husband was saying that he simply couldn't understand his wife's behavior.

Elizabeth and I were talking about how we really could identify.  Not that either one of us are real hoarders, but I can certainly start to understand these people.  I am awful about collecting things for craft projects that I never get around to.  Often I don't even have something specific in mind, I just feel that some day it could be useful.

The later is the case with can tabs.  I've been collecting them for too too long.  But I have finally found an excellent use for them!

click to check them out

Now I just need to use the various interesting paper, cardboard, and plastic bags that I have collected.  I simply love the idea of making something pretty out of what could be trash!  Too bad it means that I have junk all over the place.

Planting time!

Here are my potato plants.  I think they seem pretty tall and spindly compared to the pictures I've seen.  Here's hoping there are potatoes under there.  I planted them from sprouts on old store bought potatoes.  I'm also working on growing some tomato plants to put in my topsy turvy tomato planter.  I'm hoping I don't have to start them too too late.

I'm getting pretty excited about having some plants.  In a way I think of planting things in a similar way as crafting.  It's a way of creating something, from something else that seems to have no value.  My friend and I were talking recently how it seems like it would be super cool to be farmers.  I'm pretty sure that we have no idea what we're talking about though!

Sunshine Award

Thanks to Jennifer from Sea Willow Herbs for this Sunshine Award, and for following the blog.  What a nice surprise in my comments section!

So, this seems to be sort of like a chain letter (but in a way that supports good bloggers).  Now I choose 12 blogs to whom I wish to give the award.

SillyLittleLady's spot on the web

Sweet Harvey

red or gray art 

Bitter Betty Industries

From Japan With Love

I only have 5 right now, but I'll add more later, although I'm not promising to get up to 12.  There are a lot of great blogs out there, but the decision making is tough!

Interview with myself

Artfire Featured Artisan!

On artfire you can send in some interview questions to hopefully be featured on the front page one of these days.  My day has come, so you can see my interview on artfire any time, but I'm leaving it up here as well.

 Answer 5 to 10 of the following in as much detail as you can.
1. Please start by telling us a little about yourself and your studio.
My name is Sarah McClure, and my sister Rachel and I run ajoeynamedroo creations.  I am a Senior at UNC at Chapel Hill this year, and my future plans are up in the air!  I've always been interested in creating things, and over the years dove into as many crafts as I could get my hands on.  Right now my focus is on knitting, and polymer clay jewelry.  I also help Rachel with bath and body products.


2. If there’s one thing that defines you, what is it?
One of the things that has driven my creative endeavors is my want to figure things out.  I see interesting things around me all of the time, and I love to figure out how I can use my crafting skills to create something similar and make it my own.  In that way, the world of craft is like one big challenge.


3. What role does your family play in your art?
My mom always encouraged art in our house, which I think is one reason that Rachel and I both enjoy it as a hobby now.  My mom so wanted to encourage our creativity that she never bought us coloring books.  She didn't want us to be restricted by the lines!  Of course that made me want them even more, and I loved to color in my friend's coloring books.  My grandma also planted an inventive spirit in me.  I stayed with her a lot as a child, and she was always willing to try my ideas.  She also taught me to crochet.  It was a skill that I abandoned for a while, but I owe my interest in it to her early teaching.


4. Where do you live and what is it like?
I split my time between Chapel Hill and Asheville, NC where I grew up  Asheville is an amazing place because you are constantly surrounded by art, in the beautiful art nouveau buildings, the street musicians, and the local art displayed in restaurants and galleries.  Both Asheville and Chapel Hill have an great independent spirit, where difference and creativity are appreciated.

5. Where did you learn your medium?
It's funny, but I learned most of my craft skills from Klutz books as a kid.  I had the polymer clay one and absolutely loved it.  I remember spending literally all of my birthday/holiday money on these books, and always being so excited when a new one came out.  I continued to use books to learn as I got older, and honed my skills using internet tutorials for new techniques.


6. What are your goals with your ArtFire studio?
Having an online shop inspires me to continually create.  Although it's something I always love, selling online has given me a greater drive.  I don't know if this is a commonality among other crafters, but I don't really like keeping my own work.  I mostly like the process of creating and I'm less interested in the final product.  So selling online gives me a great outlet for my creations

Dipping my toes in the Artfire Pond

 ajoeynamedroo

I've had an artfire account for a while, but had never listed anything.  I was a little fearful of overextending myself.  With all the craziness at etsy, the sort of elitism there, and the hugeness of it, I thought maybe I should feel out the artfire waters.

From an aesthetic standpoint I would say there's no competition.  Etsy has their look down, and artfire is floundering a little.  A lot of their banners are pretty cheesy, but in a way I kind of like this.  I feel like it makes them more approachable.  Where etsy has recently come to seem to be all about the bottom line, artfire is trying to be about people.  I know it's a business strategy and a way to make money, but I think I like it better than etsy's approach.

Artfire also has free listings, although you have to pay a monthly fee to get all the available privileges.  The free listings is why I finally decided, WHY NOT?

I'm still getting used to the site, but I'm having trouble finding anything.  I keep trying to get back to pages, and not being able to find them again.  I'm thinking that this may only be a problem for sellers though.  Buying seems to be a little simpler.  I do really like the listings though.  Since it's all on one page it's way faster than waiting for etsy's servers to catch up each time you go to the next section.. 

I'm not ready to endorse artfire yet.  I'm not even ready to pay for the pro-version, but I'm thinking that I might be soon.


No pressure, but if you're thinking about joining artfire anyway, here's my referral link
Register on ArtFire.com
No point not putting it out there, right?

So it's your Birthday and Easter too?

Last year my mom sent me a card that said, "so it's your birthday and Easter too."  Can you believe that there are enough people to make that card profitable?  Anyway, this year was a little closer, as my birthday was Easter weekend, which was good since it gave me an opportunity to go home (and collect all my booty!)

I really did get some incredible things this year, which shows how well my family and friends know me.  Two really great things come to mind,

First is the book "Pops!: Icy Treats for Everyone" from my roommate.  AMAZING!  I can't wait to get started, and you should expect some photos of my creations, with a few adjustments from the recipes, since I have never been known to leave well enough alone!

The other awesome present, that is also a little silly is the tomato planter that I KNOW you've seen on TV.  I saw the commercial, and it got me with the loads of tomatoes.  I don't know how well it actually works, but as I have been known to tell people, "the tomato is my favorite socially constructed vegetable." (i.e. it's a fruit, but I like other fruits better) So their advertising got me, and my parents were kind enough to give me this silly little present.  I'm starting my plants from seed, and transplanting them into the topsy turvy.

Stay tuned, and I'll let you know how it works.