Craft Emergency Relief Fund

I saw this posted on the About.com Jewelry Making page. It is the Craft Emergency Relief Fund, and it is set up to provide crafters with aid in emergencies. If anyone reading this site is a crafter in California - or knows one there - who suffered loss in the recent fires, please take a look at this site and see if you qualify. There are various types of aid, and various requirements, so please read the web site carefully. Of course, this isn't just limited to fire victims in California, so if anyone else dropping by is in need of financial assistance, please take a look.

What I'm looking at is the section on Emergency Preparedness, which helps crafters and artists take steps to avoid some emergency situations. I'm especially looking at their section on health insurance, since that is one of the two reasons I am not quitting the-job-that-pays-the-bills. (You can probably guess what the other is!)

If anyone has ever used CERF before, please post a comment and let me know what it was like.

In An Old House In Paris........

lived Madeline!! I have another volunteer wardrobing job, this time for Madeline's Christmas! Very different from the Importance of Being Ernest. There are two separate casts - one for daytime shows, and one for night. So------we have up to 24 versions of each dress to make for the girls to wear. Hopefully there will be some overlap, but final casting has not been done, so we don't know. There are three costume changes for the girls, so three times 24 equals - a lot of clothes to be made!!! Throw in a few things for the adults and I am going to be very busy over the next month.

And sadly, the-job-that-pays-the-bills has kept me busy the last two days, so I haven't had a chance to do much more than look at the pattern. I suppose my first task should be give my sewing machine a good cleaning, since it is going to be used a lot the next few weeks.

I think I need to get to work.........

How to Wear a Long Scarf

Follow these easy styling tips for ways to wear a long scarf.

Long scarves can be very versatile, providing you with a multiple options for the price of one item. Change up various outfits and expand your wardrobe! How long should the scarf be? That depends on what you want to do with it! If you put it around your neck, and it is about knee length like the purple scarf I am wearing, then here are some options:

  Double wrap around neck - perfect for keeping your neck warm on cold days. Even though this scarf isn’t especially heavy or warm, by wrapping double, you create an extra layer that will keep you warm on colder days. If the scarf is still long, you can tie or knot the scarf as well.

 Drape around neck and let it hang

Or throw one end over opposite shoulder - 

Pin in place if desired to keep from falling off, or to add more decoration.

  

    Draped around neck it can be knotted low, for decoration, or high, for more warmth. 

 Fold the scarf in half length-wise. Place it around neck, with folded end on one side and fringed ends on other. Place fringed ends through the space created at the fold. Adjust to where you want it. 

 Belt - yes the scarf can also be worn as a belt over your tops or even your sweater or coat. Add a bright splash of color on dark grey days. Wear it high, or low, depending on which style suits your figure. 

These ideas are to get you started. Try it with your own scarves and see what you can come up with.

A Wild and Crazy Week---

well, more busy than wild and crazy, but the result is I haven't done much of anything on all the projects I have lying around. After spending Sunday afternoon sorting through everything, seeing what's been done, what needs to be done, what materials I have on hand to work with, I haven't gotten much more done. I did get some photographs, and have edited most of them, so I'm almost ready to list some non-jewelry items on Etsy. But I need a few more pictures and the time to get it listed. Hopefully this weekend I can get everything together so I can list them next week.

There is good news - I sold another item on Etsy------and it was to someone in Memphis!! That is really fun to sell locally, plus I delivered it to her and got to meet one of my customers. Really nice! Funny thing is, the item had expired, so I quickly renewed it earlier in the week - just to keep things active. Well, it sold! I guess it does work to keep listing things, even if they aren't selling. The irony is I had always loved this particular item, and kept debating whether to remove it and wear it myself. It has been listed for quite a while, and I was about to decide that I'm the only person who likes my work! Well, someone else does as well, so that's great confidence booster for me. I keep telling myself it is all about finding the right market - so I'll keep working at it!