Movin' On Up

As some of you who know me on a personal level, I have hum-hawed for years with my writing, dabbling with getting something small published here and there, but I never really did try to take off with it, mostly because I always felt I wasn't good enough to compete with the "big dogs".

However, after being coaxed (a lot) by a friend (You know who you are Miss Goddess), I applied for a really awesome opportunity to write for one of the largest crafting/handmade communities on the net. I didn't REALLY think I'd get it or else I wouldn't have applied. Weeks and weeks went by and being the pessimist I am, I knew I had been right in thinking I wouldn't get it.

Imagine my surprise when I get hired on as the newest writer in the Marketing Department at www.HandmadeNews.org. I have my own column!

I am a "real" writer now...for real. LOL
Wow, the validation really DOES feel awesome.
I should have jumped on something like this years ago.

And to make things even more awesome, KentuckyHandmade.com was kind enough to post on their blog and share the news and make me blush a lot.

My first article, Guerrilla Marketing and You - Part 1: Traditional vs. Non-traditional Marketing went live on the site this past Sunday.

I'll be publishing two articles a week (maybe more if the marketing muses prove cooperative), and I will be having one feature article per month on the site. If you are a handmade artisan or own a small business, there are a literal TON of articles already on there to help you enhance and attract buyers to your business.

Here's a link to my columnist bio page, I have my default Kellibeans pic up until I can get a more "professional" looking one done. From there you will have a link to every article I will write/have written.

TB Tea Party Etsy Treasury

I snapped up another treasury spot this morning on Etsy. It has a Tea Party theme and features some great handmade and vintage finds from TeamBluegrass shops in the Bluegrass State.

Check it out!
It expires Friday, June 12th @ 2am.

Dumplings and such.

I've been working on a new and more affordable style of softie to put in my shop and yesterday I believe I may have found a decent match, because it is hellaciously cute but not so cute that it will cause me to lose some of my street cred, (because you know, street cred is tres important and we can't be flitting about without any in our pockets, now, can we?). Okay, maybe they are that cute and I never had said cred in the first place.

They remind me of a mix between onigiri (rice balls) and awesome.

Kellibeans are @ the Coffee Mine!

Beginning this Saturday, March 21st, my designer bibs and Weenie Beanies will be available for purchase at the Coffee Mine Cafe in Madisonville, Kentucky. I *L-O-V-E* their coffee. If you're in the Hopkins County area and you HAVEN'T stopped by, you need to get your rear over to 913 North Main Street (across from the bowling alley) and plop your fanny down in one of their many comfortable seats and enjoy what has truly become one of the gems of Madisonville.

All Kellibeans designs sold at the Coffee Mine will be 100% exclusive to their establishment, and will be available in limited editions. This IS baby couture, and you can't get these anywhere else, folks, so get on it!

In other news, I will be opening an Etsy shop online beginning April 15th. I will be selling my Babybeans dresses, other bib designs and unique gift items that are both original, AND affordable. I believe babies should be fashionable, but I feel that such items should be accessible and affordable to parents and caregivers, and Kellibeans serves that purpose.

Paint Chip Swatch Needle Book

I love those handy little matchbook notebooks you can make from cardstock, they seem to do the trick when you're out and need to write a teensy note (or to substitute these for business cards to promote your blog or something...tee hee). So while doing my usual "sift through the art supply closet" at three in the morning for a doll needle I came across some old paint chip swatches (I couldn't toss those out either, and no, Mom, not the kind of paint chips kids eat...LOL) in a basket. Crafty gears started turning...

Ding! We have a winner!

I think this made the cutest little needle book. It took me all of five minutes to make (three if my inner voice hadn't insisted on using one of my fancy cut rotary blades on the felt).

I think if one were distracted by the paint info on the reverse side of the chip these little books would also look great with some decorative paper slapped on there with some glue. Take that one step further and add a tiny card of thread and tack in a couple buttons and you have yourself a purse-friendly (or pocket!) emergency sewing kit!

Bug Bites: Meet Suki and Baby Wasabi!

I have been bitten by the Matroyshka bug ever since running across a blank set of wooden nesting dolls at Hobby Lobby on a supply hunting excursion. On the hour-ish drive home, I started developing the idea of my own series of little stuffed matroyshkas in my head, went home, did a quick little sketch in my idea sketchbook, and waited nearly two months to act on it.

Like most of my creations, my inspiration comes from the simplest thing and continues to evolve. Which came first? The chicken or the egg? In Suki's case, Wasabi came first. I am notorious for saving components of my crochet projects gone awry. I was cleaning out a box of said components when I came across the dismembered thumb of a glove (too many increases too soon, I blame the radio) that had the proportions out of whack. It looked to me like a little baby all wrapped up --- boom.

There went those gears churning out another idea. I started tinkering with a small Robert Kaufman "Chopsticks please!" fabric scrap (because I'm notorious for saving those too) and a piece of felt and shortly after we had a little baby whom looked like a little pea pod...in a sushi-themed fabric. My inner voice kept referring to him as Wasabi, so thus he was named. He looked lonely and needed his mama.

The next day, after working up a few muslin prototypes, being satisfied with the proportions and making out a pattern, I set to work on giving little Wasabi a Mommy. I machine-stitched her body in the same Kaufman fabric, got her stuffed and started the handstitching and embroidering of her details (face, hair) and props (apron). All in all, I was very pleased with the way she turned out. More of Suki's cousins are crawling out of the woodwork and they'll be making appearances soon!