Cyber Monday Etsy Sale!

This is the Biggest Sale of the year!

It's time to shop for the holidays and inspire the crafter and environmentalist in your loved ones.  Check out our Etsy store today and get a big discount on any of our unique, handmade, upcycled art.
Hit the jump for the 30% OFF Discount Code.

How-To's Day: Punched Paper Stationery and featured guest at CAFAM Etsy Craft Night

This Thursday KC is the guest crafter at CAFAM's monthly Etsy Craft Night.  Here is a sneak peek at the project available that night.  We are making needle pierced and stitched paper on this week's how-to project.

Supplies needed

• Medium weight/thick card stock. Thicker paper provides more definition and will hold up a larger needle pierce.
• Various size needles.These can include sewing pins, embroidery needles and can even include awls or other industrial piercing tools.
• Item to protect work surface such as towel or foamcore to punch the paper design into.
• Tracing paper and your design flipped or reversed. When outlining an image the pierce holes will produce a flipped version of a design, unless you flip the tracing image first.
• A pencil to freehand draw your image.

1. Draw the image to be pierced with light penciling on the backside of your paper if you wish to freehand draw the pencil lines. You can also place the image on which ever side you like to be the smooth side (back) 
2. Use the lines of your image, or your pencil lines as the template to create your pierced lines.

A finder needle such as a sewing needle will make a very tiny and more of a stippling affect dot.
Personally I like to use a larger instrument or needle for the outlining of the shape and then work my way in with a smaller needle for the inside detailing work.

Also watch your speed and placement because placing the holes/dots too close to one another can result in a "blob" and be visually distracting.

Here is an example of the finished card:

It is easy to make a plain piece of paper a simple and modern card just by punching the outlines!

Or you can create a new variation of your logo with this technique:

Wanna Come make the project with me?

Etsy Craft Night: Punched & Stitched PaperLed by KC Cooper Sears
Thursday, October 4 from 7:00-9:00pm
$7/ Free for CAFAM Members (includes materials, drinks, and snacks)
In the CAFAM Courtyard

Make your mark with crafter KC Sears and create punched cards and pictures. KC will have funky imagery to inspire you—think vintage California, handmade items, even tattoos—and after you pierce the image, embellish it further with colorful stitching.

Hope to see you there!!!

XOXO, KC

Unique Find (and Review): Otter Wax

Last spring at UNIQUE LA I came across this product Otter Wax that is a safe and natural way to protect fabric and I picked up a few bars. They also have a great line of products to protect and care for leather products! All of their products are natural, non-toxic, environmentally friendly, and proudly handmade in the USA. Best part I found out when checking them out online is that they do free shipping on all U.S. orders!!!

I was perusing Curated a shop by Hydrangea Hippo at CRAFTED at the Port of Los Angeles and I was drawn to these clutches by Sahnda Marie. (Side Note: These bags are no longer available in her shop at CRAFTED :( Sorry it took me so long to post about my purchase.  You can find her work in her Etsy Shop Here)

The coloring and the pattern stopped me in my tracks. I fell in love instantly! However, I get so bummed when I fall in love with a tote or accessory where the fabric has white in the pattern. I just know in my heart of hearts I would ruin the purse immediately because I basically break everything I touch the first time I wear it or use it.  I thought this would be the perfect time to test out the Otter Wax to see if I can keep the purse looking nice for as long as possible.

Otter Wax is easy to apply, and amazingly pretty fool-proof way to protect fabric. It is smart to use the wax on a new item to keep it perfect for as long as possible but you can also clean and dry any item to preserve and protect.

The wax goes on the fabric really smoothly and easy to apply. Really all you do is rub the bar everywhere. Then using a blow dryer you can soften the wax and smooth the waterproofing seal in difficult areas. You can kinda see the fabric get smooth and shiny when sealing with a hair dryer.

It says to let the item sit for 24 hours after using the hair dryer for the product to fully set and protect the item which I did. I did however reapply a second layer after the 24 hours repeating the full process to make extra sure I keep the whites bright.

The review: I totally think it is a product worth checking out!

XOXO, KC

Etsy Craft Party at CRAFTED Wrap-up

Last Friday was a very successful Etsy & CRAFTED Craft Party.  The event had about 1,000 people attend and over 20 craft stations and demos areas.  Make. Shop. Live. is lucky to have a store right next to the main craft demo area, so we got to meet a lot of new crafters and visitors to CRAFTED.

Mark Montano, our celebrity Crafter and author of the Big Ass book of Crafts, had a busy table and was on hand to demo a beaded wristband and assist the many that got to make them. If you missed the in-person demo his zip tie bracelet project is in the Big-Ass Book of Bling available in November.

Did some one say Raffle?!?

Some of the make-n-takes for the evening:

Tie Dye

DIY Post Cards

KC broke away from the tie dye station to show folks how to make their own envelopes in our market stall.

Say wha-aaaaat?!? Photo Booth Fun!!!! Thanks to Lauren of Mitsymoto Designs and Andrew from Object Mfg. Co. made this sweet photo booth to capture the fun. Did you get your picture taken in the booth? Check out the amazing photo booth pictures here.

Thanks to all the artists that pitched in on the decor and decorating the warehouse!!! the decorations came out so amazing!!! It was totally transformed :)

For even more pictures of the fun you can check out the photos from CRAFTED here or on the Etsy Flickr page here for parties all over the globe.

Be on the watch for more events at CRAFTED as the holiday seasons approach!   And cheers to this being our 500th post!  We are just getting started with our upcycled and green community here at Make. Shop. Live.  Thanks for being a part of it.

XOXO, KC & Kevin

E-C-P-C Etsy Craft Party at CRAFTED

When Kevin looked at this flier he said "oh look, it is E-C-P-C!" how cool!!! Y'all should have marketed the party like this.

The creative makers of CRAFTED at the port of Los Angeles have been hard at work getting ready for the Craft Party and we hope you can come party with us! On Friday, August 24 we will be hosting an Etsy Craft Party as part of their worldwide craft party meetup. We’re hoping to make it the biggest and best in SoCal! 

Etsy Craft Party: From 7-10pm we will craft party like it’s 1999! For more details and to RSVP go here.

Our theme is “Wish You Were Here” and we certainly wish you were here for this event! Activities will include:
★ Loads of craft projects with the expert makers of CRAFTED! (a small materials fee may apply for some booths)
★ Demos by talented artists
★ Shopping and browsing CRAFTED market stalls
★ Food trucks and a wine bar
★ Live DJ and photobooth
★ Nail bar
★ Tie-dye station
★ Message in a bottle make-n-take
★ FREE PARKING! FREE ADMISSION!

Also, any posts you may share about the event, please feel free to send my way or tweet us at @makeshoplive and @CRAFTEDport_la or hash tag #craftparty  so we can share with our community.

We look forward to having a good time with you that evening! Hope to see you there!!!

XOXO, KC

3 Local Etsy stores talk Tech

Last Thursday evening, the Santa Monica Apple Store hosted an Etsy Team Community Session about developing your online presence.  Since KC couldn't attend, I decided to take a walk over and get some good tips any Etsy user could use.

Courtney Prince, of Doloris Petunia

Three Los Angeles local users were invited to speak for a few minutes on their experience and relationship with successfully building a store on Etsy. Andie's Specialty Sweets went first.  The nature of a handmade custom order store has it's challenges when it comes to profits.  Even with past months doubling orders, the clear attention to craft takes time and money.  There was a mention made that no press had been done yet.  The photography of the work was very good though, as was the level of craftsmanship.  It seems all the ingredients are there!  Best of luck!  Courtney Prince of Doloris Petunia was next and spoke openly about how the business was developed in NY and expanded after a move to LA.  Someone introduced her to Etsy one weekend at the Rose Bowl Market Fair.  She had a great bit of advice that I'll paraphrase, "Do what you are interested in, then think about what the customer would want".  Basically, if you are passionate about it and are willing to edit yourself, they will come!  Finally, Kelly Massey from Pretty Penny Designs spoke of her journey with Etsy and how she learned to make a splash.  She humorously reminiscent how she started by listing a few items and ..... nothing happened.  Then she "heard people like natural lighting" so she took her products outside and re-listed those pics........ nothing happened.  After a few months she had gone online and done her research on professional product shots and places to outsource fabric printing so she wasn't up past midnight every day.  All the speakers were great, and overall it inspired me and reminded me of how the basics are so important:

Great photography of products

Have passion for your work

Edit to what customers want

Think about how you would appear in press

Best of luck Etsy users!

Meet Kevin Sears!

Hello Make Shop Live Community!  I'm the husband part of the business!  That's me below.

the one with facial hair

I'm really excited to start contributing to the blog and website content for Make Shop Live.  First, a little bit about me. 

I make several of the products found in our Etsy store.  The record stands or accessory table stands are forged by me, by hand.  I usually help with all the little things that pop up at Craft shows.  In fact, you might see me at the show table more than KC (she can't help but "contribute to the community" aka "shop").  So, I'll be the one selling you the Upcycled goods!  Of course, I'm the "strong" hands when it comes to moving all the goods physically too.  So weeknights and weekends are Craft time for me!

Full time I am a digital artist working in Santa Monica on film and tv visual effects.  I moved to LA after graduating SCAD in 2007.  KC transitioned from NY to LA in 2008 and we were married later that year.  Since then, the two of us have been building the Make Shop Live store and community!

thanks for meeting me,

Kevin Sears
http://www.kevinsearsstudio.com/demoreel.htm

CAFAM Etsy Craft Night- Lisa Occhipinti

Tonight I went to my first Etsy Craft Night at the Craft and Folk Art Museum. It was led by Lisa Occhipinti who wrote the fabulous book The Repurposed Library. This Kindle Keeper project is one of the many projects featured in her book and was super fun making with everyone!

Valerie, Lisa, and Myself at CAFAM's Etsy Night 4/5/12

I got my copy of the book signed and got to pick Lisa's brain a bit about the behind the scenes of making a book about making things out of books (hehehe.) 

Plus, I met a new friend  Alicia who makes awesome Vinyl Record Bowls.

Inside View: My Kindle Keeper Made at the Craft Night

Now that I have Instagram (Cheers and streamers fall from the ceiling!) I can post each step of things & inspiration as I go! SO clever!!! Step by step pictures of my Kindle Keeper Project here and pictures +  details of the event are here on Facebook.
Well, off to bed! XOXO, KC

Coming Up this Week Nov. 28th- Dec. 4th

Happy Cyber Monday! Did you use our Cyber Monday Deal today in Our Etsy Shop? 

There is just a few hours left to get 30% off your entire purchase-

Use code CYBERMONDAY2011 at check out.

Tomorrow is a full day of travel back to the West Coast and I am anxious to get back to all the work we have this super busy week. Hope you had a wonderful weekend and packed your online cart full of Cyber Monday deals.

Thursday is the west elm + Etsy workshop & mini-market which members of SCAD+ Etsy = LOVE Team as well as the Team EcoEtsy members in the LA area will be demonstrating a demo on how to make a paper ornament. (free for all to attend and make a take away project) More details here.

Friday, we have set-up for UNIQUE LA at the California Market Center Downtown.

All day Saturday and Sunday we will be vending in booth #146  at UNIQUE LA's Holiday Show!!! The first 10 people to drop "Make Shop Live" at the door gets *FREE Admission to both days of the show.  Also, let us know that you are a fan of the blog for a free gift :)

Best of luck wrapping up November to y'all and Hopefully we'll be seeing you in December.

XOXO, KC & Kevin

Wedding Wednesday- PICTURES & Details @Mariners Church

Sam and Jennie's Wedding last Saturday was so beautiful. The Mariner's Church is such a gorgeous place intergrading a natural rustic feel in a contemporary space. My first impression walking into the chapel was that it had a very cozy and intimate feel. I really like how big everything feels in the pictures compared to being in the space.

I was there Saturday to make sure all the decoration and reception details were taken care of. It was so much fun being able to decorate the whole wedding and reception. I had help of course, and along with the brides clear vision, I was able to utilize my "tool box" to take care of behind the scenes. Jennie was a wonderful bride to work for and she had everything super organized for her big day. I am so happy that I could help work the finishing touches to make her dream wedding! The pictures below are of the isle decorations/ pew bows that Jennie created for the ceremony. Also the peacock theme as you can see continued throughout. I tulle wrapped the isles and hung the peacock decorations and laid out a scalloped flower petal isle runner down the center isle to highlight the entrance.

One awesome thing Jennie decided to highlight at the reception was a cake buffet with nine different flavors of cakes. She had a friend in the mountains make cake displays for her in two different heights so the cakes could be staggered on the table. You can find some similar cake stands on Etsy Here. I wanted to do a treasury but they have to include 16 different items... But it seems like a keyword of "rustic" gets you these items.

I looked all over Etsy to see if there was a similar bird cake topper, and found nothing quite as realistic type of bird. Jennie should really think about sourcing out some of theses really amazing items she had for her wedding in her Etsy shop.

I worked the cake table during the reception and everyone seemed to flock to the strawberry filling chocolate cake.  They all looked so fantastically tasty but I was able to hold out until we got to Chick-fil-a! 

One of my favorite parts of going down to the OC is indulging on my favorite thing that reminds me of home.  I still can't believe our high school's athletic events sold chicken sandwiches... Yummy!  I love that I am wearing my fancy dress at this fast food joint in this picture-lol

I am off working on getting the labels off these blue and green glass bottles that we are collecting for a wedding table display. Next week there will be more details on how to elevate bottles to a classic and romantic take on simple elegance.

Best wishes for a creative and positive week to all!

XOXO,

KC