Crafting Disasters

We have all had crafting failures, flops, booboos , nightmares, Ooopsies or "shit what the hell happened" now I have to start over...... Grrrrrrrrrrrrrr, experiences.

Do we want to share them with the world? Especially when we have a business to sell beautiful works of art and only want our peers to see our gorgeous finished masterpieces ?

Admit?, we have made hideous things no one wants. Not even our Mothers?
And take pictures of said monstrosities and Post them on the Internet for others to see and LAUGH AT!

"Mom, I (choke)love you (choke) but.............." Poor doggy1

Well there is a blog to post them on and it's great for a laugh and to commiserate and give empathy to others.

Craft Fail Blog A lot of funny wonky finished projects with pictures. My favorite is an attempt to apply henna via a condom!



My biggest goof up was a pair of bell bottom pants I tried to make to wear on a Saturday TV Dance show my "whole school " was going to watch. ( Get the importance here?)



I bought a pattern that showed a incredibly cool "Mod Squad" looking Peggy Lipton model posing in perfect white bell bottom pants. Well in the olden days patterns NEVER fit like the picture.......NEVER!

So I made them and then had to keep taking them in a little here and out a little there, and in a tad and out a tad, and on and on at all different positions along the outside leg seam.



Oh,..... I suddenly realized the problem........I needed to adjust the inside leg seem too, that would fix the problem. In and out and in and out.....................



Nothing could make them Mod Squad "cool". Eventually I was crying and finally wadded them up and stuffed them in the kitchen garbage can.

An hour later I decided to give them another try. When I pulled them out of the garbage can they had disgusting coffee ground stains all over them. I tried to bleach them. No way was that stain budging, but I did bleach out some of the carpet in the bathroom!

Thankfully my mother made me a "hip" gold skirt and vest to wear with a long sleeve ruffled white blouse, think "Austin Powers" and I made it to the show wearing a very "in" fashion.

Are you brave enough to share a "flop" story?

I'm Crazy For Cats

Unfortunately I do lie to them. I tell each one, privately, that they are my Favorite!

WTF? Wednesday

HAPPY EARTH DAY!

I gave up plastic shopping bags for canvas bags.

Have you made a change for our earth?

Wacky.........ROTFL

Weird............. an overloaded train in Pakistan

What The .....................???

A "real" collectible Barbie!

FREE Etsy Biz Help

I just got an email from Timothy Adam, a very successfull etsy guy, about a FREE 5 day email course on building a better etsy shop. He has over a 1000 sales of his metal art which is some very cool stuff, and has a very cool blog about marketing .........so I signed up!

Maybe he can help me see the value of twitter. I just don't like it and who cares what Ashton Kutcher sayes any way.

Here is the link, Etsy Class, on his blog and check out the blog! Tons of great advice.

So I just went back to my twitter page and I'll give it another try...........
I try so hard not to be an old fogey :)

Artsy Fartsy Friday

Meet TwoZanyZebrasWho are you?

I am a SAHM of two silly zany kids. They keep me busy and on the brink of insanity. I am trying to find a balance between kids, husband, self, housework, scrap booking, sewing, and selling things on etsy.

I love being with family, having fun, the outdoors, and being creative.

Tell me about your toys and how you began making them?

The Zarkles were born from my idea of the pocket blankie. My kids love to dig through the diaper bag, my purse, or any bag around--- a stranger's possessions are even more fun for them.

I came up with the idea of a pocket sewn onto a blanket so they could hide their "treasures" in it. Once my first pocket blankie was made, it seemed like it was missing something. So I decided to make a plush toy to fit in the pocket and voila the Zarkle was born. I named the first Zarkle Amos and he quickly became my daughter's favorite toy.

What is unique about your products?

I believe my products are colorful and unique. The pocket blankie is an original creation I made based on the preferences of my kids. All my Zarkles and Monsters are based from my original drawings and are made from minky or other super soft fabrics. I also try to use fabrics that are unique and different from the common ones you see in most quilt shops.

Your favorite item in your shop?

My absolute favorite item ever listed in my shop recently sold. It was the Zany Pocket Blankie with Dexter Zarkle. I had a difficult time listing Dexter and really waned to keep it-not for my kids, but for myself!

My favorite item currently listed in my shop is the Zany Pocket Blankie with Ginger Zarkle. I love the alien fabric used in that pocket blanket.

Happy on etsy?

I love selling on Etsy. I don't think I would have ever gotten into selling my creations if it weren't for Etsy.

Best etsy marketing tip you’d like to share?

There are so many sellers on Etsy that it's not enough to just list your item once. To keep your item from drowning in all the other items you must relist frequently! This helps keep your items on the top few pages.

What other interests do you have?

I LOVE to scrapbook. I am like the majority of scrap bookers out there. I have 1,000s (yes, thousands!) of pictures sitting in a box patiently waiting to be placed on a layout! I did a very elaborate scrapbook for my son (the first born) and am now feeling pressure to not skimp on my daughter's book! I was the second child in my family and know exactly how it feels to see my sister's bulging baby book and my book seems to have been misplaced...Yeah right! :)

What are some other sites to find out more about you ?

I have a blog twozanyzebras.blogspot.com

Posts range from stories of public humiliation with the kids to recipes to fun things going on in my Etsy shop.

What “super power" would you like to have and why?

I would love to have the super power to be able to get all my chores/obligations done in the blink of an eye so I can spend the rest of my day being completely focused on playing with my kids. They grow up too fast and I don't want to miss anything! Here she comes...................

"PDQ ZANY ZERO HERO SUPERWOMAN"

Now, ask this question in 10-12 years when my two monkeys are teenagers and I guarantee you will get a very different answer. Maybe then I'll want to be a mind reader to know if they are telling me the truth! :D

I love her critters and her blanket and clothing themes!!!!!!!!!!!

Artsy Fartsy Friday Is Coming.........

I decided to write about other esty sellers with dolls and critters in a weekly post called...............

Artsy Fartsy Friday

I figured out why I love dolls and stuffed critters so much, OR why I need them around me every day when I am a grown women. My guest room is filled with handmade dolls, stuffed cats and a variety of children's books and their accompanying stuffed characters, puppets & dolls. Most of these were my kids toys and I just love them.

Of course it's a need I developed from a teenage trauma. When I left for college my mother gave away my baby dolls, barbies and plushies. They were stored in boxes in my closet - not on display any more. I was furious! She had no right to do that. I wanted them as keepsakes. I do still have George T. Bear. Although he's getting "crunchy"

So I guess I'll be one of those crazy old ladies who plays with dolls at the nursing home. Of course each doll will need their own "Bingo" card so my chances to win will be 30 fold!
Crazy?.........Crazy Like A Fox!

A Room for Peaceful Inspiration

I actually already have my

DREAM CRAFTING ROOM!

I'm very lucky to have a whole room to myself for crafts, supplies, desk, computer, printer, files, closet, sewing machine and TWO windows!

The space is important too because these girls waiting to be finished and primping

for their " photo shoot" don't like ..........

This Girl, Bipolar Betsy, and her one and only friend ( a sympathetic relative I think) because,...well it's hard to explain. There was an altercation one afternoon during a videotaping.

The green eyed monster showed up..................."Jealousy" pure and simple.

The video explains it all. Psycho Doll

So I keep her way up on the top shelf to avoid any further problems.

Loads of supplies. Remember I teach girl scout programs too.

The swim noodles in the corner are made into marionettes for scouts. This is my perfect window to get natural light for photos.





More s_ _ _ in the closet. I am super organized. I go nuts when I can't find something.
Sometimes I have to stop myself from boxing and reboxing and labeling boxes and

Get back to the glue gun which has been wasting electricity for and hour or more!

Shame on me!...........so non green.

Sort of "forgot" to snap a shot of my sewing machine table -- very messy pile of things I need to mend - like a years worth of stuff........I'd rather be crafting ^.^

And some inspiration from crafty ancestors. These are hanging on the walls. I love to just study them when I'm tired and need a break.

My Great great great grandmother hand stiched these quilt panels. She died in a blizzard and they were passed down for many years and then my mother made wall hangings for several family crafters to enjoy.

I can't imagine the time it took to sew this pattern by hand! The stiches are sooo very tiny.

And these came from my husbands family. They are Ribbon Girls and were a greeting card kit made in the 1950's.

I just ADORE them! So I love my space and the rest of my house gets very neglected...........

who cares,...Right?

Going Green ...............Again!

You know going green is not a new concept. Many moons ago it was called being

"ecology conscious".

I made my first child's baby food from vegetables from my own garden. I sewed most of my clothes and raised pigs and chickens. I camped and hiked and went fishing. I rarely ran the AC in the house and my car had no AC. It was cool to care about the environment.

Then years of a fat economy came and we all spent too much money and went nuts for electronics and forgot about the planet earth.

Now we care again. Thank Goodness!

In regards to my shop I reuse tons of things other people throw away.

Every single size and shape of food container gets washed and goes to my craft room and gets used to store my junk from sequins to doll bodies. Almost all of my fabric comes from old clothes I buy at the Salvation Army or garage sales. I keep and reuse all cardboard boxes that come into my house.

I have a lot of girl scout cookie boxes. So when I ship a doll, the recipient gets what "appears to be" a case of thin mints and gets REALLY EXCITED and salivates! Then they open the box and are disappointed,...................but only for a few seconds until they unwrap their QuirkyDoll and get pretty excited about that! Awwwwwwwwwww

Keeping Quirky Dolls Out of Trouble

My stupid stye is gone and now my vision is blurry, only in the one eye. My dominant "good" eye. Off to the doctor tomorrow. What could be worse then NOT being able to read blogs!

I have to get about 10 inches from the screen to see clearly!!

So quick Post............

My dolls are getting jobs.............well not really jobs in this economy., plus I don't want to break any child labor laws. They are getting chores ! They spend way too much time on the computer, the phone or begging to go and "hang" at the mall. They have been fighting excessively and it's time to focus their attention on productive activities. Next they'll be into my makeup and chasing boys!

Celeste is a "Sewing Assistant" (Pin Cushion but Shhhh.......... don't tell her)

She loves to watch you sew and can offer suggestions on what fashion tweens & kids like today. She's a big "celebrity news watcher" so she can keep you company with lots of gossip too! No more "lonely" sewing sessions!

I took glass votive candle holders and made a pin cushion inside them from fiberfill and fleece. The weight of the glass keeps Celeste sitting up and stable . She's a very happy camper now!

Jorgensen Studio Silversmith

Check out the cool earrings I WON in a random drawing on my Team FEST blog!

I love cobalt blue....one of my favorite colors. I once decorated a kitchen in cobalt blue, white, light blue and a soft grape - It was Beautiful! I still have the cobalt blue glass pieces.

Any way these were made by Jorgensen Studio. This lady is a potter and also a silversmith.

There is a lot, and I mean a LOT of jewelry on etsy

and hers is truly unique!

Classic, gorgeous, feminine, modern, and more.... You must go and see it. MY description is lame.

Isn't this petite ring grouping Delicious! Silver and a touch of gold!