RENOVATION PREVIEW

Well, I already told you I've been working hard on new products... but I thought I would give you a little sneak preview. Below are a few of my new flower brooches.

Lots more to come. Hope you can contain your excitement a little longer.... And there is still time to save 20%... hop on over to the shop and check out the goods. Happy 4th!

Polka Dot Socks...

Yes, that's right. You read the headline of this blog correctly. I love socks with stuff on them, especially polka dots. In fact... my college roommate use to make fun of me all the time because I did not own a single pair of plain white socks (a plain solid color was even hard to come by).


Why is this relevant? Polka Dots. Have you noticed the blogs subtle updated look? It is the start of a Bright & Cloudy update in its entirety. The new packaging was shown off at the last craft fair, new products are in the works, and a shop update is soon to come (keep an eye out). For now, if you haven't already taken advantage of the renovation sale (coupon code RENO2011)... I suggest you head over to the shop now and start browsing...


As for now.... here are a few pictures from the last fair, I know you all have been waiting patiently to see how everything came out.

So now is your chance... Is there anything you would like to see in the shop? Or anything you would like to see more or less of?

PS: Check out my fancy new links at the top of the page. All worth clicking :)

SHOP RENOVATION 2011

Hey All-

I am getting ready to make a huge shop renovation. Awesome new stuff is coming soon. Brooches, headbands, more bobby pins, earrings and more! The shop has been open for a little over a year now. I have learned so much. I am ready to share all the new stuff with you. The shop renovation will also include a new SALE section.

To make room for new inventory, I am offering 20% off all purchases from now until June 30th! Enter coupon code RENO2011 at checkout to receive 20% off instantly.

So head over to brightandcloudy.com today!

If you have any questions, feel free to email me.
Happy Shopping!


Stef

CRAFT FAIR: Cumberland Drama Club Vendor & Craft Fair

This coming Saturday, May 21st, I will be participating in the Cumberland Drama Club Vendor & Craft Fair. This is a fundraising event that will help fund the clubs trip to the International Thespian Society Festival in Lincoln, Nebraska. The Cumberland Drama club will proudly represent the state of Rhode Island in this festival.

Remixed by Jacki and Bright & Cloudy will be sharing a booth at this event. Come check out the local crafters and vendors and support the talented students of the Drama club.

I will have fun new products that will make it to the shop soon after the fair, so if you can not attend, keep a look out for them.

Full Details:
Saturday May 21, 2011 from 10am-4pm
Diamond Hill Park Ski Lodge
Diamond Hill Road (route 114)Cumberland, RI

Yarn Wreath with Felt Flowers: Happy Mothers Day

Yarn wreaths. They all look so simple and cute. I thought to myself "what a quick and easy mothers day present".

Flowers- I got down. Any shape, kind, variety. I am always experimenting with new ones. I love felt, and although I haven't ventured too far into the flet flower world, I took the plunge willingly. And I can assure you, you will be seeing many more felt flowers in my future :)

From the research I had done online looking at tutorials, and pictures of other peoples wreaths, the directions were easy:

1. Wrap styrofoam ring with yarn.
2. Make different shapes and sizes of fabric flowers.
3. Glue, pin or sew flowers directly to wreath.
4. Add ribbon at top for hanging (optional).

It was the actual wrapping of the yarn that got to me.  Seemingly simple, yet I had the hardest time efficiently wrapping them. First, I kept dropping the wreath. Then, I kept getting the biggest tangled messes from my yarn. Then, as impatient as I am, I would cut it... and try again. I never understood why people unraveled all of their yarn just to re-wrap it into a ball. I'm not a knitter, nor do I dabble in any craft that requires yarn (until now).

I understand the ball now. It makes so much sense. Yarn is a little bit evil. And who knew there were machines to "ball" it for you... check this out.

Anyway, despite my aggravation, they came out great! Take a look.

They made great Mother's Day presents. The first one was for my mom, the second one for D's mom. (sorry about the crappy picture, I of course had forgotten to take a picture of it before I gave it as a present)

What I learned:

• The thicker yarn worked out better for covering the ring.
• A yarn ball would have helped greatly.
• I really like felt.

I did enjoy how these wreaths came out, and have so many ideas for flowers that would look adorable on wreaths, but I am not quite ready to jump back into wreath making quite yet. Anyone have any tips or tricks for easier yarn wrapping? Or any other cute ideas for wreaths?

Crafty Explosion, Organization and a Happy Exchange.

I am one of those people who works in organized chaos. Especially with my crafting and art. I know where everything is when I am working on it... but to everyone else, I am sitting in complete chaos. But I have my limits, and while cleaning up my work area I came across an envelope that I almost forgot about.

About a month ago- I was wandering around Etsy and came across this cute little shop. It made me smile. So after visiting it a few days in a row, I decided to "purchase" a few of her prints. I use quotes because the Happy Exchange prints are not technically for sale.

A Happy Exchange was born out of a desire to share my art with whoever may connect with it. The joy I feel when doing so is payment enough for me.

When they came in the mail, with a hand written note from Jillian, I was truly happy. I thought to myself "these will be the first thing I hang in my new house." The house of course I am in no position to buy, but am working my darnedest to achieve in the near future. As I continue to save money this year I will remember these prints and think about them hanging :) For now, I will keep them at my work area so they make me smile as I am crafting.

As for you all. I strongly urge you to check out A Happy Exchange on Etsy. If you would like to know more about Jillian and her art, you can check out her blog Happily Simple.

 Enjoy!

New Flowers!

I am so excited about the new flower accessories I am working on. It started with rings... and has bloomed into many other accessories. Check out the rings below, then head over to my shop for other new stuff!

 

And this isn't it... I have many more projects in the works. I will try to add more stuff each week, so stay tuned.

A CRAFTY EXPERIENCE: Cabin Fever

This past weekend I attended the Cabin Fever indie gift show. There were many interesting vendors both good and bad. A few, I feel you should take note of...

SepiaLepus:

Although I spoke with her, I was rude and did not get her name but this girl has talent. Her whimsical art drew me in twice. (D and I looped the show a couple of times just to make sure I didn't miss anything) I absolutely loved all of her prints and brooches. My favorite was her octopi. I strongly recommend you check out her etsy page here.

Nathan William Murrell:

First of all, the fact that his title on his hand stamped business cards is "maker of things" is awesome in iteself. But his art is not far behind. His booth was full of these mixed media pieces with intricate laser cut wood art and japanese paper inlays. They are hard to describe, but very kewl. You can check out his shop here.

Heather Jeany:

A booth full of screen printed goodies, how could you resist. The first time around, her booth was so busy, I had to pass it by- knowing full well I would be back to see what all the hubbub was about. The attention her booth got, was well deserved. Her technique was great, and her cards quickly caught my attention. We actually bought one of her prints (The heart print shown above). Check out her shop here.

There were many more that I would love to share with you, so their may be a part two of this post soon. Hope this holds you over for now. For more information about the artists and crafters that were at the show, check out the cabin fever website here. I can't wait for the Sowa open market this summer. A lot of these exhibitors will also be there, so check them out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY JACKI

About a month ago I made a housewarming present for a friend of ours. A housewarming present that was about 8 months late from her actually buying and moving into her house... but nonetheless it was cute. It was a french memo board. I hadn't made a memo board since my non-traditional memo board. Actually, I had never made a traditional one at all, never been one for very traditional :)

This one came out great. Unfortunately, as a bad blogger... I was too excited and gave it away before I even took one single picture of it.

Lucky for you, Jacki turned 30 today. Yay! I thought a shabby chic memo board would be a perfect gift.

 

With crackled edges, the cutest scissor print fabric ever and perfect white button accents, I knew she she would love it. (And yes, she did.)

Of course to add to the charm, I wrapped it in brown craft paper and added a cute flower clip for flair :)

Lately- I am surrounded by 30th birthdays. I am not sure if it makes me feel old, because all my friends are turning 30... or young because I am still not there yet.

Once again, Happy Birthday Jacki! Hope 30 is good to you!

I am on a mission.

This is fair warning... I am making 2011 my year.

I am on a mission.... good things are coming.

Stay tuned for awesomeness.

"and exactly WHAT have you been working on?"

For those of you who know me, you know that I am a graphic designer by trade, but with a love of crafting and all things handmade. Although I shouldn't say I don't love graphic design as well, in fact, I am sort of a dork about it.


That said... with lack of crafty posts lately- I thought I would share with you exactly what I have been working on.

First... the very talented Seven Shades of Grey have released their first CD (YAY!). For a little bit of time now, I had been working on the cover/disc art as well as a few other minor projects for them.

If you are not familiar with Seven Shades of Grey, I highly suggest you check them out. They are currently #1 on the local music chart on UNregular Radio, and have made their cd available for download via BandCamp. Make your ears happy and go take a listen...


Second... one of my very best friends is having her first baby (another YAY!). With her due date rapidly approaching... a shower is in the works. Just finished the invitation this week.

She is going old school and not finding out what she is having, so neutral colors were a must... PS... its killing me that she doesn't know. I have all these crafty ideas I want to make for the new baby and am having trouble finding "cute" neutrals.... I will figure it out.

I can't say I haven't been 100% non crafty, I do have a project in the works, but will need to wait to post until after February 7th... a birthday is coming and I can't spoil the surprise! Stay tuned...

Remixed by Jacki- Official Shop Opens

I am so excited to share with you that Remixed by Jacki is officially open on Etsy! I have been a fan for a while and actually already own two of her scarves (one fabric, and one knit). Check out a few of my favorites below, then get yourself over to her shop ASAP... they will go quickly, I've seen it happen in person!

Neon Plaid Infinity Scarf

Pumpkin Spice Scarflette

Happy Birthday to ME!

Hey All-

I know there are a TON of January birthdays... I know not as many as November, but still alot. Most importantly... its MY birthday today!

I will have some crafty-ness posted later in the month, but for now I would like to offer you a coupon for Bright & Cloudy on Etsy!

Take 29% off of all purchases in January.

Why? Because I turned 29 today and I am very generous. Offer will end January 31!

Enter coupon code HAPPY29STEF at checkout.

Want one of my awesome flowers but don't see one that suits your fancy? Maybe you prefer a clip instead of a headband? I have many many styles that have yet to make it to the shop and I am also not oppose to custom orders! In fact... I welcome them :) Just send me a conversation via Etsy and I will see what I can do.

Enjoy.

-Stef

Merry Christmas and Happy Drumming

It just wouldn't be Christmas with out some crafty gifts. This years big gift was for D's nephew. Joe is 9 and wants to take drum lessons from his wonderfully talented drummer uncle :) So for Christmas, D thought it would be a good gift to restore his first snare drum for his nephew.


Since the drum was so old, it had some massive cosmetic issues. At first thought, we were going to just sand out all the imperfections and paint. But once we removed all the hardware it looked like a harder task than anticipated.


A new idea was born and we headed to the fabric store. We picked out a fabric that was simple yet fun. Once D sanded the drum as much as he could, and took off all of the original logo plates, I used Heat'n Bond to adhere the fabric to the drum.

I have used Heat'n Bond before to adhere fabric to furniture with great success. It is a great product. You iron the thermoweb onto the fabric, peel the paper off the back and then iron the fabric to your object. This time around it was a bit harder. For what ever reason, not sure if it was the fabric or the curve of the drum, the Heat'n Bond did not quite stick to all areas. We had to use glue for some areas that would not bond (mostly around the edges).

That said, you would never know we had any problems because once D put the heads and all the hardware on the drum, it looked great. If you know D, you know that he loves "custom" stuff, so of course we had to finish the project by adding a custom "D-Rawk" patch to the front of the drum where the old logo plate use to sit. For the patch, we simply printed out his logo on iron on transfer paper for dark clothing. We ironed the transfer onto stiffened felt, and glued the felt to the front of the drum. It looked perfect!



This project was a great learning experience for both D and I. And Joe loved his gift, so all the better. Hope you all had a happy holiday and I wish you a happy new year!

Framingham Auxiliary Police Craft Fair THIS SATURDAY!

Since the first fair was so successful, I thought I would go for round two. With this being my last fair of the year, I invite anyone in the Framingham area to come stop by and support local artists and crafters.

There will be over 100 and/or craft vendors as well as food/beverages vendors. There is also rumor that Santa will be attending the fair from 11-3.

Since the last fair, I have been crafting like crazy to ensure a good selection at this fair. Lots of accessories, magnets, pillows and more. This time around I will also be accompanied by Jacki who will be sharing my space to sell her awesome scarves. She has both knit and fabric scarves available. (PS, they look great with one of my flower clips attached!)

I am not sure where exactly I am located with in the fair yet, but stop by and browse all of the great vendors until you find me :)

Full details below:

• DATE: Saturday, December 11, 2010
• TIME: 10am-4pm
• PLACE: Keefe Tech School at 750 Winter Street, Framingham, MA
• MORE INFO: http://www.artsboston.org/event/detail/440983789/Holiday_Craft_Fair_
  

Hope all is well with everyone, forward this on to anyone you think might enjoy the fair.

See you Saturday!
Stephanie

(i will post more pictures after the fair)

Spin-Yo-Present!

So- this past monday was D's birthday. YAY! I am always looking for something fun to do for him... but you know... as you get older... its harder and harder to come up with new ideas.

When he turned 30- I did a whole theme of "30 presents for someone turning 30" That was a tough one... its hard to come up with 30 presents a 30 year old would like... with out going broke.

Last year, was not as exciting (for me in creative world)- although the gift itself was not lacking creativity... I designed him a new drum head for his new band. This was not the first drum head I had designed for him, so at this point... I am starting to get the hang of designing in a circle :)

And of course a shamless plug for them... if you havn't checked out Seven Shades of Grey yet, you are missing out. They have some new video on their YouTube page.

Ok ok... back to the craftyness.

This year I decided on a game. A quick and easy game (to play... not to come up with :)


So- basically... I made a birthday present spinner. Spin-Yo-Present! The premise is... D will spin to determine what he will get for his birthday. The spinner only had describing words, so- the actual presents were still a mystery (wrapped in sushi-pack wrapping paper). If you have yet to see the sushi pack cartoon, I highly recommend it... mainly because they are sooo cute.

Little did he know that his card that he will open last will tell him that he has won all of the presents... sneaky.

I designed the wheel, and printed it out on cardstock. I then glued it to a thicker piece of cardboard (I used a side of a box I received his presents in). Once I glued it down, I trimmed the edges to a nice neat square.

Then, I added the spinner. I purchased these game piece spinners from amazon.com. The package comes with a variety of sized spinners, and matching brads to attach them. This... was the tricky part. I wasn't really thinking when I mounted the game to the thick piece of cardboard that the brad wasn't going to be long enough to poke through to the other side.... so- with some finagling, I managed to squish the cardboard down slightly in the middle and poke the brad through. I will know for next time to pick a slightly thinner piece of cardboard.

November is always a crazy birthday month. I am apparently surrounded by Scorpios. Sort of scary... But. Happy Birthday to you all anyway.

Cupcakes for a Cause

Although this post is not entirely craft related... it is for a good cause, and with my love for cupcakes... I had to share.

This week is "Cupcakes for a Cause" week. Cupcakes for a cause benefits cancer care for kids fighting the battle.

Check out their website here. It lists participating bakeries in your area to buy cupcakes and/or host a bake sale. And if you can't buy a cupcake... send a virtual one! göt2b will be donating $1 for every e-cupcake sent.


Do your part. Help out when you can. Visit http://www.cupcakesforacause.org today.

Pirates and Weddings

So... if you were not aware. Today... September 19th, is National Talk Like a Pirate day. Naturally... with my love for all things pirate... this holiday MUST be observed.

Today was also the wedding of my friends Jen & Bob.


Clearly... the two had to connect, so check out the card I made for the wedding...

Congratulations to the happy couple... Arrrgghhh!

First Craft Fair... Check!

I know you have all been wondering how the fair went.... and were waiting for a post on Sunday... sorry to be a slacker blogger, but I am happy to report it went GREAT!

The day was sunny, and perfect weather for walking around. Set up was quick and easy... (thanks to all my helpers) and actually I made my first sale before I even finished (yay!) As the day went on, it got busier and busier... at one point, you couldn't fit any more people in my booth!

All in all- it was a great day and a successful craft fair. I received lots of applications for upcoming fairs in the area, and look forward to doing another one. More info on upcoming fairs in a later post... but for now, check out pictures from the fair...

crafty-ness exploded...

so i have been sort of hush in the blog world... but that is not to say i have not been busy. its less than two weeks till the craft fair and im getting sort of nervious. do i have enough stuff? will people like my flowers? its crazy whaat goes through your head. this is my first fair, and i don't know what to expect.

it currently looks like a craft store threw up in my living room. and thats not even counting the dining room table where my sewing machine and cutting mats are set up! which is fine for the moment, i like the crafty chaos. but as soon as the fair is over its priority one to organize all my supplies better. this way i'll be more productive. i am still dreaming of the day where i have an art studio where everything can stay set up with out being in the way... one day...

this weekend: the plan is to pull out all my finished pieces and see what still needs to be done for the fair. so stay tuned for a mini fair preview coming soon :)

Published with Blogger-droid v1.5.3.1