Left or Right Brained?

I found this on a fellow EST members blog. I always knew I was both left and right brained - love the sciences but I have also been crafty my whole life. I wanted to see which I was more...

You Are 40% Left Brained, 60% Right Brained

The left side of your brain controls verbal ability, attention to detail, and reasoning. Left brained people are good at communication and persuading others. If you're left brained, you are likely good at math and logic. Your left brain prefers dogs, reading, and quiet. The right side of your brain is all about creativity and flexibility. Daring and intuitive, right brained people see the world in their unique way. If you're right brained, you likely have a talent for creative writing and art. Your right brain prefers day dreaming, philosophy, and sports.

Are You Right or Left Brained?

First Giveaway!

I will be moving into a new apartment July 1st so I need to clear out some stuff from my shop! Of course I already have a Sale Section where you can find some great deals, but I thought that I would make this a bit more fun!

Just leave a comment and a way for me to contact you if you've won. Let me know something about yourself, about your craft, or just a general comment about my shop or blog. The winner will be picked at random on the first day of summer, June 21st! The winner will be able to *select* one item that they want out of at least 20 items in my shop, so you can win something that you love!

Good luck to everyone!

My Second Tutorial - Coasters

So after I made my first tutorial I couldn't help but make a second. I kept thinking about it all week and decided to make a simple project of coasters but with a ric rac trim. I think they came out pretty well and will be listing the set I made in my shop sometime this week. The tutorial is for sale for $6 USD. I like how they came out - I'm keeping one of them for myself for my desk. The good thing about living in a student apartment and having only one room to yourself is that the only place that you could use a coaster is on your desk ;)

Although these tutorials are both for sale, I want to make a free tutorial to post here on my blog, but one that isn't too long. Something simple, but useful. Do you have any requests or things you'd like to learn how to make? Let me know!

Perfumes

So I have to admit that I never was really into perfumes. I was never a smelly person, even after a hard work out at the gym! Through high school I would use some popular chain store 'body splashes' but as we all know, they don't last very long. I started wearing a lightly scented french perfume, Lemon and Verbena, when I came over to Poland. I started getting compliments from many people that I smelled really good and that's when I got into wearing more and more. I guess positive reinforcement really works!

It started off slow, buying some perfume here and there of some basic scents, nothing too fancy. Then a year ago I found Etsy. That's when the real problem begain. I stumbled upon Modern Atelier on Etsy. I started looking through her shop and couldn't decide what to try out first. I ended up buying 4 of the sale scents to see how good the perfumes really were. I got them in the mail and you could smell the perfume through the envelope - and let me tell you that they smelled good! I was trying to go through a bottle of perfume I already had before I started anything new, but that didn't keep me from buying more! I ended up buying 4 more..some 'winter' scents and some 'summer' scents. I only got through one of my winter scents during the winter and now I'm using a summer scent. They all smell wonderful and I love that after my 1oz bottle is out I get to try something new out!

The next perfume seller that I have purchased from is The Starshine Company. They make both home fragrance oils as well as perfume oils. Since I am already addicted to perfume I thought that I would probably love home fragrance oils as well. I was right. I ended up purchasing 3 perfumes and 3 home fragrance oils. I use the home fragrance oils daily and they smell devine. The perfume oils also smell super but I haven't had the chance to try them out yet.

Both Modern Atelier and The Starshine Company shipped quickly and securely. I recommend them for any perfume that you plan on purchasing for yourself or as a gift!

First Tutorial Up for Sale - the market bag

I have purchased quite a few tutorials & patterns on Etsy myself, so I thought maybe I should make one too! I love handmade patterns and tutorials because they are completely original. You know that someone put a lot of time and work into their project and it shows through their work. I also like the step by step with color pictures along the way and the ability to email the author with questions or comments about the pattern. It's so personal! Being an advanced, but self taught seamstress, I sometimes find that I do not know certain 'tricks' or techniques that many have learned through conventional ways. That is one of the main reasons why I also by handmade tutorials, so that I can learn these tricks and techniques to better my skill set.

I have been thinking about making a tutorial myself for a while but kept putting it off. I wanted to make something that was pretty straight forward, something that may teach some 'tricks' to other seamstresses and of course something that I haven't seen made yet. I would say the most popular things right now for sale are small pouches, aprons, purses and of course things for children so in making this market bag, I knew it would be one of the firsts on the (Etsy) scene with it. The best thing about this pattern is that it can also be shrunk down or blown up and be made into almost any size that you would need! This project took me about 6+ hours all together with the sewing, picture taking, writing, and the designing of the pattern then putting it all together into a PDF. It can be found in my Etsy shop for $8USD and free shipping! I hope that those who purchase the tutorial can send me some pictures of your completed projects for me to post on here!

Summer travels

It's already June, the weather is warm (or at least here in Poland it is!) and the thing on all our minds? Vacation. I have already booked my tickets for some summer traveling. Last week I was in Berlin, at the end of the month I am going to London, and in July I will be in Barcelona, Rome, Malmo, and Copenhagen. That's a lot of traveling!

I am not only thinking about traveling though - I am thinking about all the great crafting supplies I can pick up along the way! I have already started to make a list of some great fabric/craft stores in each country that I will be visiting. I know it probably sounds crazy that I am looking forward to the traveling as much as I am looking forward to my fabric finds, but really, when will be the next time that I will just hop over to Barcelona to pick up some great Spanish fabric? Probably no time soon, so I am taking advantage of this opportunity!

I am also busy sewing up some great summer outfits. I have added four skirts and one dress to my wardrobe, and have ideas for many more floating around in my head. Now, only if University would end soon, so I could get to some more sewing ;)

Market Bags & Patches

Feeling torn about buying a market bag with a great screen print on it and making one myself, I started to search for some great patches. I found and bought some great patches that I can sew onto bags that I make myself - a perfect compromise!

I got this patch from andyeatsonlycandy

The next two patches I got from RMIA. The first one is for recycling and the second one is perfect for any crafter - DIY Do or Die
Go search for your own patches and make some rockin' customized bags to your liking!