chimesblog

Check out my Cyber Monday sales on Etsy:

Birdies and Coffee Cup

Flower Fiesta Bowl (Gold)

Butterflies in Wonderland Baby or Lap Quilt

OBEY Andre the Giant Men’s Winter Set

Mention the code mrfidgets and receive FREE SHIPPING on any order until December 15.

Everything is fair game this month.

Both my stores, chimes design and toDIYfor, are having a 20% off special this month.  To participate, convo me on etsy with the item you’d like to apply the sale to and I’ll adjust the price and reserve it for you.

An extra 5% off if you blog or tweet about my sale and include the link to your blog post/tweet in your convo.

Easy peasy.

As per usual, I’m offering free shipping to Des Moines and Ames as long as we can arrange a drop off/pick up.

I’ve got a TON of stuff I have to do this weekend! It’s crazy, but I’m staying in and getting it done!

1. I’ve got a couple of paying freelance projects so I’m going to blow their minds and try to get a chunk of work done on them this weekend (one of them that’s not due until Sept. I’m pretty sure I can actually finish today).Kim’s friend, Lisa Inman, and I are working together to update her website. She likes her current one, but she doesn’t like that she can’t do the updates (or atleast that’s what I’ve gotten from her so far).  She’s supposed to send me the original artwork today so I can work from those files since she likes the current design of her site.

   I’ve got an order for some customized wedding rehearsal dinner invites based on the sunflower invites I listed the other day.  It’s going to be a whole package: invites, envelopes, mailing labels, table place cards and tags for favors. I’ve got the invites and labels done. I need to pick an envelope and order it. I am designing the place cards and tags today.

2. I’ve got an awesome album cover project I’ve been working on since February that I need to throw together a press kit before the end of the weekend.  I’ve been working with The Half Hearts — who will actually be coming to Des Moines on August 19 if anybody’s interested — on their album art for their very first album.  My friend Kim did the painting that’s the basis of the album cover.  The album’s finished mastering and they’re planning to send a press kit August 1, so I’ve got to get a few things together for them to print.  That’s the first thing I’m doing when I’m done blogging here (important things first, right? hehe).
3. I’ve got an order for 2 custom tattoo mugs for my co-worker, Tory.  She’s the one I did the cute sunflower wedding shower invites for the other day. I don’t think she needs them right away, but I told her I’d do them this weekend, so I best stick to that.
4. I’ve got some dishes I started working on last weekend that I need to finish and bake. It’s a set of 8 — 4 bowls and 4 plates. I’d like to get that done today. I only have 2 more bowls left to paint, so that shouldn’t be a problem.
5. I need to paint a set of 16 dishes before Market Day next weekend.  I’m doing an entire set with the tattoo theme. I haven’t completely decided what’s going where…but I’m thinking mainly swallows and flowers on these dishes.  I might pick up a few more colors of paint before I get started on these.  It’s kind of a time-consuming project though, so I might not try to push it for before Market Day.
6. Speaking of Market Day … I need to blog about my deals that I’ll be doing — including a special deal if you advertise or blog about me somewhere.  Details to come!
7. I’m doing a Michael Jackson Craft Swap. Yes. For real. Go ahead and groan.  Unfortunately, I got paired with somebody in Australia, so that limits what I can make because of the price of shipping. I had some really cool things planned before we got partners, but I can’t afford to ship there and I’d rather spend money on the things to swap than on shipping.  I’m completely lost for ideas, which is not good.  I was originally going to make a 16-piece dinner set with silhouettes, but, not shipping that to Aussie for price and fear it will break.  Anyway, I’ll be brainstorming this weekend and purchasing supplies. I have until 8 PM to figure it out since Hobby Lobby closes at 8 and isn’t open tomorrow. I guess I can go to Michael’s but I like Hobby Lobby.
8. And … I have a few backburner projects that if I have time I’ll get done this weekend.  I was hoping to make a bunch of fast t-shirt bags to sell for $1-$2 at Market Day since it’s a BYOB sort of deal. A few people were upset last time that I didn’t have bags, but it’s like Farmer’s Market…bring your own bag.

I’ll probably put my string quilt away. I’m getting sick of looking at it and I know I’ll just end up working on that instead of these projects that need to get done.

Anyway, wish me luck.  I also need to run sometime today, so hopefully the weather cooperates. I had a bad week for working out and I ate terribly the last 2 weeks…so I’m definitely feeling like BLAH right now.

AND … I’m off!

It’s been a while since I painted dishes, and I am not really feeling the groove. Regardless, here’s some new dishes. This is a set of 8.  14″ plates and 9″ bowls.  I was given this set at the last Market Day by a friend of Steph’s.

There’s also a water pitcher, which is what he picked up first… but I haven’t gotten to that yet. I want to do something different with it, and I’m not sure what. That’s the reason it took me so darn long to do this set in the first place, but I decided to go for it tonight.

I’m waiting to hear back from him to see if he wants them.  If not, I’ll probably be selling the set at this month’s Market Day...which is coming up FAST.  (July 25 for all of you who are interested…which should be all of you.

I want to come up with something new and fresh… which I have… I just haven’t had time to execute it. I have a 16-piece set of white dishes I bought from a high school friend 2 weeks ago that is definitely turning into the coolest dish set ever, but first, I have to draw it out on paper (I normally don’t do that, but this is going to be totally badass).

I recently participated in a heavy metal swap on craftster.org. This was the first organized craft swap I’ve done through the site, and I think it turned out pretty well.

For those of you who don’t know, basically in a craft swap you decide that you’re going to make a certain number of items and find out a lot of stuff about what your partner likes. Craftster does a lot of themed swaps like the metal swap (next up, MJ swap).

My partner was really into a lot of the same kind of stuff that I was into…Children of Bodom, In Flames, Pantera…etc.  But she was a HUGE Maiden fan. I took this as an opportunity to get to listen to some Maiden since I never really gave them a chance.  I got really excited about crafting some Maiden stuff since I got kind of into the cheesiness of the music. I decided that I’d only make her maiden stuff so she wouldn’t outgrow it later (like she might have with some of the newer bands).

We decided that it would be fun to make some über-girlie items with a metal theme. She seemed pretty interested in kitchen items, so that’s what I made.

Potholder set (with Eddie and Aces High lyrics on the back)

Grocery Tote Bag

Grocery Bag Dispenser

I tried to make it cute... but it didn't quite work. The inside is a pink floral (the top too) and I quilted the outside with silver...but Eddie's just so fugly.

and…. Breakfast with Lemmy — the one non-maiden item. Mötorhead. Ace of Spades. (what’s with the aces theme??)

I was the first one to send, and my partner was the first one to post her stuff… apparently I rocked the eff out of this craft swap.  :) So hopefully I get a rockin’ package in return (actually my partner is sending late b/c she wants to thoroughly rock the eff out of MY package too).

Sooo I’m switching gears and crafting for my all-time favorite musician… Michael Jackson.  (okay, here’s where I almost went on a “to those of you who are now riding the MJJ train… seriously get off it” rant…but I restrained myself)  You guys all know how I feel about him (or at least you know now…most of you knew before), so yeah, I’m a little bit upset about the whole deal but on the bright side, I’m getting to experience him all over again and am discovering things I never knew existed.

Yes.. yes… I bought a spot.. not the same as being featured. And they randomly rotate them out… but still, when I clicked the front page of the ceramics feature on Etsy today, I saw this:

Um yeah… top right hand corner? Yeah. that’s me.

I thought I was being featured…then hit refresh… and realized that everybody gets a fair chance since we paid for a spot.

OH well! 

I recently marked down a LOT of items on my etsy shop for an Independence Day Sale.  I decided to extend the sale into a summer sale.

As always, shipping to Des Moines and Ames is free.  Just contact me before buying so I can adjust the shipping price and arrange a drop-off/pickup.

Here are the items I’ve got on sale:

Wonderland by MoMo Charm Lap Quilt

Regular price: $150
Sale Price: $100
1 Available

Lotsa Hearts Handbag

Regular price: $18
Sale Price: $10
1 Available

White Fiestaware Musical Flowers Cup and Saucer

Regular price: $15
Sale Price: $10
1 set Available

Birdies and Coffee Cup

Regular price: $8
Sale Price: $5
5 Available

Vintage Flower Fiesta Bowl (turf green or gold)

Regular price: $10
Sale Price: $7
2 Available (one green, one gold)

Tea Time with Gram Cup and Saucer Set

Regular price: $15
Sale Price: $10
1 Set Available

Birdies and Coffee on Vintage Lime Green Pyrex Cup and Saucer

Regular price: $15
Sale Price: $10
2 Sets Available

Custom Etsy Banner and Avatar

Regular price: $15
Sale Price: $10
5 custom designs Available (below are examples of banners I’ve done)

You can e-mail me at calee@chimesdesign.com or PM me on twitter (@chimes) OR convo me on etsy if you’ve got questions, concerns or special requests.

ALSO — heads up!  I’ll be doing Market Day in Des Moines on July 25th and will be having a special that day ONLY at Market Day.  All dishes will be buy one, get one half off.  I may be cooking up some more specials, and even a raffle or giveaway… STAY TUNED!

In honor of the 3-day weekend and of our forefathers… I’m having an Etsy sale! As always, shipping to Des Moines and Ames is free, just contact me beforehand to arrange a pickup/dropoff.

Feel free to share this around!

Here are items that are on sale:
Wonderland Quilt

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=27132485

Lotsa Hearts Bag

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=26505809

Flowers and Music White Fiestaware Cup/Saucer

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25808834

Birdies and Coffee Cup

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25807559

Flower Fiesta Bowls

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25796749

Tea Time with Gram Cup and Saucer

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25796541

Birdies and Coffee Cup and Saucer

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=25796407

Custom Etsy Banner/Avatar

http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=22289621

Today is the big day! Time to pick a winner for the ceramics giveaway.

Since I know most everybody who posted comments, I was worried that if I picked somebody I knew, I’d be biased…but it’s a random number generator, right?  Right. So to be even more random, I decided I’d hit the “generate” button a set amount of times.  I had a post-it note setting on my desk that had measurements for a backing piece for the hello betty quilt I’m making for my mom.  It said 63″ and 72″ and 44″… soooo 63 sounds random, right?? Right.  So 63 clicks later, this is what I got:

Number 5 comment is KELLY!

Kelly (@kelalea) Says:
June 4th, 2009 at 10:23 pm   edit

1. Kelly. @kelalea.
2. you know how to find me
3. http://www.kellylea.blogspot.com
4. YELLOW BIRDIE PLATE. You know the one. WANT.
5. Frick… what don’t you already know… um…. I had a piece of lemon cake for lunch today.

Kelly will be the proud new owner of the yellow birdies plate (since I know how much she loves it, and she might beat me over the head with anything else I give her instead).

 

————

Thanks for playing everybody!  Watch for another giveaway. I’ve got supplies for a mini-zipper bag and I don’t know what fabric I’m using yet (not the mermaids again)…maybe one of my own designs!  Look for that in a week or two.

Although I have had kind of a crappy Saturday so far, my friend @CatRocketship did send me a photo of the mugs I made for their wedding gift back in April. I didn’t take photos of them before I gave them to them, so I’ve been waiting for a while for a picture…and here it is!

SOOOO cute!

To see some more info about their wedding, check out this article.