Hi. I’m chimes.  If you’ve been reading my blog and are just now figuring this out, well howdy. I’ve decided to try Craftzine’s 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 Profile questions.  Enjoy!

One Project You Are Particularly Proud Of

1. My musical flowers pitcher. And the resulting photos of it.  I really miss my little brick wall porch at my old place in Des Moines.

Two Mistakes You’ve Made in the Past

1. Not saying no when I should.  I’m to proud to admit when I can’t take on a project — I love being a jack of all trades. I recently took engagement photos of my friend’s little sister and her (now) hubby.  I really shouldn’t have.  I’m not a photographer.  And I said yes to taking her WEDDING photos too.

[okay, so they didn't turn out too horrible]

2. Using parchment paper to bake these amazing brownies.  The result?  What my roommate coined “reverse brownies” — gooey on the outside, done in the middle.

Three Things That Make Your Work Unique

1. I’m cheap — but in a good way.  I use EVERY scrap of fabric — including the selvedge edges — every discarded dish, every possible inch of batting and use cereal boxes for patterns for sewing projects. I’m currently making a map of the states quilt out of pieces of fabric that are less than 2″ big. Partially because I’m a fabric hoarder too.

2. Asymmetry. I hate symmetrical and being matchy matchy.  I will never make a quilt from a traditional pattern — it has to be wonky.
3. Obviously, I love handmade objects. And as a graphic designer in my professional life, I try to incorporate hand-done items into my work as much as possible — whether it’s my own illustrations, found objects, fabric or paintings created by a friend.

[album cover for a band I was in that never took off]

Four Tools You Love to Use

1. Rotary cutter. I have no idea why, but there is something so damn therapeutic about cutting fabric and placing it in neat piles.
2. Adobe Creative Suite (especially InDesign — use it daily at work)
3. Sewing machine — I sometimes think I need a fancy one with more bells and whistles, but the freebie one I got from my aunt has been kicking out great projects and working just fine. I actually got a new Janome in October and it has been rocking my world! I even completed a quilt last month using that machine with no blips in the fabric or dropped stitches. I’m saving my old machine for threadbangin’ more crafty projects.

4. Sketchbook + Prismacolors.  I don’t just do things. I think them through first and find several ways of accomplishing what my desired end result may be. It’s surprising what you come up with when you take some time to brainstorm.

Five Inspirations

1. Quilters like Fussy Cut and Oh Fransson!
2. Michael Jackson. Yes. I’m serious. If you’ve not read my blog before, then newsflash: I heart MJ.
3. Every DIY and craft blog out there. ever. I think I follow all of them in my google reader.
4. My granny — she left a TON of unfinished projects when she died and I’ve been randomly finishing them up in the past several years. Here’s a quilt I completed out of blocks she made from what we think may have been old clothing (she was also cheap and thrifty).

5. And I have to mention my boyfriend. He’s constantly helping me refine my work and offers up suggestions and critique as well as an incredible amount of support.

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Hello bloglings. Tomorrow is my first Market Day of the season.  They’ve been going on since May, but I’ve not had a chance to do much crafting until this last month.

For those of you who don’t know and are around Central Iowa, you should come check it out.  It’s pretty awesome.

Actually, for you newbies, here’s a description from their website:  Market Day is an indie craft market: their vendors craft — but they don’t make your grandma’s crafts. At Market Day, shoppers find screenprinted posters and tees, postcards of monsters, stenciled paintings of mermaids, kawaii earrings, macabre pottery, and more. And? They’ve got their share of vintage housewares, clothing and jewelry, too.

Find Market Day at the Des Moines Social Club in the Kirkwood Theater — at 400 Walnut Street in downtown Des Moines, IA. Click here to get directions.

What am I selling? Why dishes of course. But actually, since I moved twice since the last craft show I did, I don’t have any new dishes.  I do, however, have a metric butt-ton of new zippy pouches because these are super easy to transport and are reallllly fun to make.

Zippy pouches are $10 (at Market Day, $12+shipping on etsy). Dishes range from $5-15 for single items and $35-75 for sets (again, 10% more expensive on etsy + shipping).

Also, did I mention that Market Day is from 9 AM-2 PM? COME ON DOWN.

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I’m really excited because this Saturday (June 18) I’ll be teaching a class at Reiman Gardens in Ames.

I’ll be bringing some adorable mugs I’m collecting for this and we’ll be painting flowers, butterflies and other things that Reiman Gardens might have to offer.

You should probably sign up for the class. I would LOVE to see you.  And it’s all skill levels — I don’t draw — I doodle. I’ll teach you how to doodle up your old ceramics. Also, it’s not super early in the AM.  10 is pretty decent.

Here are the deets:
Garden Ceramic Painting: Making Old Ceramics New
Saturday, June 18, 2011 from 10:00 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Instructor: Calee Himes
Join artist Calee Himes, owner of chimesdesign, as she shows you how to create whimsical illustrations of plants and butterflies on old ceramic mugs. You can use this technique to create permanent illustrations on your own, dated ceramic dishes. This unique approach to re-using and recycling will bring a smile to your face each time you have a cup of coffee! All materials are included and all skill levels are welcome.

Cost: CoHorts’ members: $24. General public: $30. ISU students: $20.40. Pre-registration and pre-payment by Wednesday, June 15, 2011 before the class required. Register online.

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Hey all!  Just a little reminder that my Moving Sale on etsy is still going.  Pick up some fantabulous deals. As always, shipping to Des Moines and Ames areas (within 25 miles of each) is FREE. Convo me or drop me an e-mail, tweet or facebook message before buying so I can adjust shipping.

Also — the biggest steals are the Birdies and Coffee plates and bowls. Normally are $10 per plate/bowl and are $5.  Price for all 7 of either is $30 (or I could do $50 for all 7 of both).

Thanks! And be on the lookout for all new items popping up in the next few months AND a brand new store in the fall. STILL not sharing what it is, but am thinking about doing a giveaway sometime soon for anybody who wants to venture a guess.

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I’ve not been creating anything fabulous and new lately. And that’s because my etsy store has been pretty well stocked and I don’t have room for anything else in my apartment.

SO … I’m having a January Blowout Sale!

For my retail shop (www.chimes.etsy.com) use the code JANUARYBLOWOUT to receive 30% off any item in the store.

I have a couple of things listed at 50% off in my wholesale shop — my little birdies bowls and little birdies plates. Both are normally priced $35 for 5 bowls or plates (one bowl/plate is $10 on its own) but they’re $17 for 5 now.

Spread the word! And happy etsy-ing!

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I don’t know why, but the term “cyber Monday” kind of gives me the willies. Sounds kind of dirty.

Regardless, I have some good sales going on! Check them out HERE. 10% off coupon and a couple items marked $15-20 off!

AND check it out, I’m featured on The Hipster Housewife today with some of my adorable custom cups and saucers.

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Hello bloglings!

I realized that I forgot to advertise EVERYWHERE and not just on my etsy that my deadline for Christmas commissions was September 30th. I made that policy in 2009 as I received entirely too many commission requests in November the year before.

I will be sure to advertise this a LOT more blatantly next year so you can get your requests in earlier.

Unfortunately, I cannot take any commission requests for Christmas at this point.

However, I will still be taking requests for commissions that are due after Christmas. And a VERY SMALL handful that are due between now and Christmas.

I hope this doesn’t make me sound like a jerk — but I just can’t do EVERYTHING. Crafting is not my full-time job, so unfortunately I have a limited amount of time to devote to it.

ALSO —

How do you go about getting a commission in the first place? WELL, just ask. You can e-mail me, facebook me, tweet at me, convo me on etsy or comment here on the blog.  Once I have enough details, I will create a custom listing for you on etsy.

Work will begin on your piece once you’ve completed the transaction on Etsy.  Some people do commissioned work the other way around — produce the item, then have the customer pay for it.  I’ve had too many people back out on a request once I’ve created the item or items, so to alleviate that problem, I’ve asked for payment up front. Since I have a limited amount of time to create things, this is the best policy.  Of course, there will always be special cases, but for most commisions, payment is required up front.

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Fiiirst of all, I’d like to say happy 25th birthday to my friend, Steph.  If you have a chance, head over to her blog and leave her some love. Or hit her up on twitter.

I finally finished my yellow dinnerware set. I’ve had it since my friend Molly picked it up for me in May.  The yellow fake-estaware dish set.  There were a LOT of pieces to work with. But, I made a 19-piece set and lots of other random items out of it.

Yayy! Another one I can mark off my list …

And in other exciting news, I have a project to add to my WIP list … oops.

I received my sketchbook yesterday for The Sketchbook Project 2011. My theme is “It’ll be fun, I swear”. I think I’ll start with talking about how I thought this project will be fun …I’ll keep you updated on my progress.

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Welcome to my much-needed new feature … FO Friday.  FO stands for finished object (as opposed to UFO — un-finished object).

To recap my embarrassingly long list of UFOs:

1. Mug for a friend’s birthday present (2 weeks ago)
2. Tattoo Dish Set (July 2009)
3. mom’s pleather jacket restyle (September 2009)
4. quilt for my mom (March 2009) — in my defense, I just haven’t had the extra $75 around to get it professionally quilted.
5. coin stack quilt (March 2009)
6. Thea’s Puzzle Quilt (April 2010)
7. Roseanne Afghan (November 2007) — this project is to work on when I don’t have any other projects to work on
8. fabric scrap greeting cards (May 2010) — I have 45 blank cards left to create
9. camera cases (July 2010) —  I have 10 cases left to sew — just need to buy buttons and elastic to get them done
10. fabric scrap flowers (July 2010)
11. jeans into summer pants/shorts (July 2010)
12. Map of the states quilt (April 2010)
13. Yellow fake-esta ware dishes (July 2010)
14. Nerdy cross stitch (April 2010)
15. cookbook (December 2009)
16. Portfolio/website/resume revamp (May 2010) — don’t worry — just time for a refresh.
17. Wonky Log Cabin Quilt #1 (February 2010)
18. Wonky Log Cabin Quilt #2 (February 2010)
19. Workout/Recipe/Craft project binders (February 2010)
20. Family recipe book (January 2008)
21. ironic greeting cards (May 2009)
22. T-shirt quilt for my cousin (August 2009)
23. Fabric Frame (June 2010)
24. touch up painting my kitchen (May 2010)
25. recycled t-shirt rug (September 2009)
26. Black and white quilt (March 2009)

Today’s FO is #1 — Mug for a friend’s b-day present.

My new coworker and friend asked me to create a mug for his girlfriend for her birthday, which was August 3. Don’t worry. I had this finished beforehand. I just wanted to save the blog post for Friday so I can have a Friday feature (and more importantly have to have some FO to share with you every week from here on out).

Also, I may have lied when I said I wasn’t going to add anything to the list … if I do this Friday feature I’m going to run out of things to blog about rather quickly. Some of the things on the list aren’t going to be able to be finished in a super timely fashion because they’re either too expensive to finish or too time-consuming to finish in my spare time that quickly. So, I’m going to probably add some projects to the list. BUT instead of including the list on my blog post every week, I’ve created a page where it can live.  There’s a link on my sidebar to it as well.

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I’m going to do a Market Day recap … but I scheduled this post earlier to show you what I’ve got that’s new this month. I have quite a few things!

New ceramics (posted a while back) and these guys:

Wish me luck! I’m sure it will be fun.

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