Raise Your Right Hand...

I took the Buy Handmade Pledge as myself, Tammy George it seems like eons ago.  I have recently taken the Pledge as PuNk rAwK pUrL, my business entity.  And I am encouraging everyone who reads this post to consider taking the pledge to buy from & support independent businesses & craftspeople! 

Click the big button at the bottom of this post to take the pledge.

I am also asking that you pass the word along.  Tell your friends, family, & coworkers about the pledge, and they'll tell two friends, and they'll tell two friends, and so on.  (If you are under the age of 35 that last bit might not have been so funny to you, but trust me, it was mildly chuckle worthy.)

Please don't mistake this as a plea from me for you to shop exclusively from me.  There is an entire world chocked full of immensely talented  artists & craftspeople... including yours truly.  There are numerous websites which support these people.  There are also local craft fairs/bazaars/markets, especially during this time of the year.  Ask around & you will be surprised at what you find.  One of my favorite local Craft Sales is held monthly at the very cool knitting & craft studio in Berkeley, Knit One One.  How do you like to shop for Handmade? Online? Locally at markets & fairs? Share your favorite places to shop for handmade in the comments here. 

My First GIVEAWAY! Will You Be The Winner?

When it comes to hair accessories, what kind of hardware do you guys prefer?  For my crazy curly hair, I like the single prong alligator clip (w/out the chompy teeth).  I like these because i can also clip them on to a lapel of a jacket or the brim of a hat.  Several of my friends with baby fine hair cannot even get most hair accessories to stay in their hair.  

What about YOU?  Do you like Alligator hair clips... with or without teeth?  Perhaps you like the double prong alligator clips. Or do you like the french spring loaded barrettes?  Maybe you like combs or headbands.  Or do you hate wearing stuff in your hair altogether? I have an inquiring mind & i want to know!

    

So, Dear Reader, as you have probably figured out by this point, I have been designing & test running some hair accessories. I adore these sweet little machine stitched felt flowers.  I began making them as pins about a year ago, which are sold in a local boutique & continuously receive rave reviews about them.  Since I love wearing pretty stuff in my hair it was a natural progression to turn my felt garden into adorable adornments for my mane.  

 
Did someone say something  about a GIVEAWAY?!  You bet your sweet bippy I did!  The winner of this momentous & maiden PuNk rAwK pUrL giveaway will receive a custom made Felty Flower Hair Clip & matching Lapel Pin.  YES, I DID say custom made, as in I will make it just for YOU... the winner.  What a prize!  The giveaway ends Friday November 5th, 2010.  I will announce the winner on November 8th, 2010.        

To Enter:

1. Leave a comment here on the blog telling me your thoughts on hair accessories.
2. Want a 2nd entry?  Tweet on Twitter OR Share on Facebook this blog post & then come back here to the blog & leave a comment w/ a link to the tweet OR FB post. (You can use the links in the white boxes at the bottom of the post to tweet/share... or use your own method.)  
3. If you would like a 3rd entry; Follow me on Twitter OR "like" my Facebook page ( & then come back here & leave a comment to let me know)

Good Luck!  & if you have any questions... shoot me an email. ❤

New Items in The Shop

I am super dooper excited to announce that 

The Sew & Sew Owl Note Card line has landed in The Shop

This is Oscar

I have created these little guys & gals using vintage buttons from my Grandmother, colorful papers, threads, & lots of love. I cut all of the paper pieces by hand & arrange them according to color & texture. Then the extra-super-fun-for-me part begins... I use different colored threads to stitch it all together. The final detail in cuteness is applied when I hand sew the button eyes on. Depending on the mood of the individual owl, sometimes the eyes match; sometimes they are adorably wonky.
Although I can recreate similar Owls, no two Sew & Sew Owl cards are the same.

Presenting Otto, Ogden, & Orlando

  Orson

 Are your walls a little bare?  Or just lacking in over the top adorableness? 

You can request any of my cards to be framed.  Most of my A2 sized cards can be purchased for just $20, which includes the card & the frame.  They make awesome affordable art!

& let's not forget Sweet little Odessa ❤

Under Construction...

Late last night I had the bright idea to overhaul my blog template. It's not quite what I had in mind... yet. So please bear with me over the next few days or so, as i tweak & rearrange things. Feel free to share any thoughts, feedback, constructive criticisms. I am always open to feedback!

If you are savvy with coding & all that jazz & are feeling generous, please contact me . I would love to step outside of the templates a little further & make some bigger changes. But alas, my inner geek is fairly limited.

hugs & kisses

- t

p.s. I don't like posting w/out photos... so here is my chief Snooper-Viser, Rosco P. Coltrane

Rosco

I am Over the Moon

I was having a hectic day yesterday, not a bad day, just hectic.  Lots of errands, & a visit to a government office, not as much fun as I pride myself in striving for daily.  Mid afternoon I peeked in on my etsy shop... yes, to count how many item views & shop hearts I have tallied since the day before.  (I know, I know, a watched shop never boils.)  As I was poking around, thinking about rearranging some items, plotting out the items that were awaiting my camera to be listed next, I noticed that I had new feedback.

My hectic day had instantly become one of my favorite days of all time.  My first customer, that is my first customer whom I didn't already know, had left me the most truly amazing review/feedback.  I mean this is primo praise!  I actually got watery eyes while reading it.  I truly do enjoy creating things that people will love, that will bring them joy.  And with her permission I will share it with you now:

"Incredibly proud and pleased to have been Tammy's first customer, and an international one at that! Tammy is extremely friendly, lovely and eager to help you create custom designs. I'm over the moon with my custom Lotería card, which Tammy very kindly created in custom colours for me to match my wedding colours as this card is intended as a wedding anniversary card for my husband. The card is beautifully made, excellent quality and the mix of textures are both pleasant to the touch and the eye; so much so that I'm very tempted to have it framed afterwards! I can highly recommend these cards to anyone wishing to make a purchase from this shop, you won't be disappointed! It's been a real pleasure purchasing from you, Tammy, thank you ever so much for patiently communicating with me and creating something very special! I can't wait to purchase more cards from you in future, and thank you ever so much for the early anniversary wishes in another of your splendid cards! I wish you all the best with your endeavors :)"

Thank you Nina for being an amazing first customer! & thank you for using one of my favorite phrases... I too am over the moon! ❤

 

a quick iPhone shot of WHOOOO is coming to the shop next.

 

Monkey Wrenches... Not as Cute as They Sound.

So I had a wee setback in my master plans for the the first half of the week.  I started feeling a little low energy Sunday afternoon.  Late that evening I was doing my best impression of Linda Blair... circa The Exorcism.  The 24 hours following that... let's just say that my boyfriend is a flippin saint for sticking around to take care of me.  It's Wednesday & my energy continues to go up, but my body is a little weak still. 
But I am strong enough to blog... which is saying a lot for me... having not blogged regularly in EONS.  I really do enjoy it.  & I really did miss it.  & I was really quite good at it. (please don't go by this post, remember... I am still recovering from violent illness). 

Speaking of blogs... and scary things.... check out BuNnY MoNsTeRz blog to win one of these SUPER adorable  scary zombie bunnyz! 

And whilst still on topic of blogs & not having used one in a very very long time, I realized just how outdated & ridiculous this one is... the appearance & link content.  Being somewhat limited in my techno-bilities I did some stripping away of old buttons & links that weren't really pertinent to me or what I'm literally selling these days. The next step on operation blog-over is to replace the banner... & fix the issue with the body of the blog shifting to the right of the screen... this however will require some assistance. I am actually looking to build a website that will link to the blog... among other cool PuNk rAwK pUrL links.  Soon my pretties... soon. Oh... also talking about a change up in the colors.  sooo darned exciting.
 

PuNk rAwK pUrL Goes All Etsy & Stuff!

It took me ages longer than I had planned. And, it doesn't yet look quite how I had envisioned it. BUT... I have FINALLY opened my Etsy shop! I am very open & eager to receive critiques & feedback.

There is only one line of note cards in there presently, the Loteria Line (read about them below). More note card styles are coming very very shortly, like next week. AND... I will also be announcing some options to purchase them framed. I adore doing custom orders, so convo me on etsy!

Loteria note cards in a picture frame... instant & affordable art.

What else will she be whipping up for us besides note cards, you may be asking yourself. Boy oh boy, I am so glad that you asked that question! Atop my giant craft table I have been watching some super adorable hair accessories, & pins duke it out to debut in the next spot in the shop. A little further down the road you can look for pillows & some other home decor goodies.

Birdie & Arrows Cards

The Loteria line is created using actual pieces from the game. No photocopies here, no siree Bob! I hand cut all of the pieces, & then arrange them according to color & texture. Once I am happy with the layouts... the super fun-for-me part begins. Using different colored threads, I continue my story of color & texture by stitching all of the pieces together.

Oh Deer! & High Five Cards

Day 33

Day 33, originally uploaded by PuNk rAwK pUrL.

news:
- etsy store is actually going to happen very soon here. i am photographing product & writing the item descriptions this week. & planning to get the actual uploading into the shop this weekend!

- still having fun being a goofball with my self portrait project on Flickr.

Day 15: The Bangles

Day 15: The Bangles, originally uploaded by PuNk rAwK pUrL.

Day 15 of my 365 day self portrait project.

Moving Right Along....

i have been super busy with some amazing stuff the past couple of months. This will be a short post to fill you in. Once the magic dust settles a bit, i will be back on blog track!! all aboard!


#1. i am working on a top secret project, designing a knitting pattern for an upcoming book.

#2. i participated, as a vendor, in my first street fair. The 6th annual Temescal Street fair in Oakland was earlier this month. The photos in this post are just some of the goodies that i had up for sale. see #5 for more info on this. & click here for more street fair photos.

#3. my dear old Powerbook G4 finally took the big dirt nap a couple of months ago & i have been essentially without a computer. i am happy to report that i am typity tappity typing this post from my sexy new 15" MacBook Pro.

#4. i am moving again. i have been one year in my cool warehouse loft. it has been mostly fun living here, aside from a freezing cold winter, more dust than you can shake a stick at, and the inability to watch movies without the subtitles on... due to XTRA loud soothing sounds of BART. don't get me wrong... i truly love the sound of BART and the train... not my first time living close to the tracks... but in this non insulated building... the sound level is insane!!!

#5. the street fair gave me such positive feedback... and i had SOOO much fun making the goods to be sold... that i am finally ready to launch my etsy page. I should be launching in about two to three weeks... once i am all moved out of my current loft.

I shall be posting again in just a couple of weeks. until then my lovelies.... XOxOxoXoXo