Check out an interview with Pip, from one of my local university newspapers, the Halifax Commoner. Ignore the fact that I’m on my motorcycle with bare feet, please!
I’ve recently been interviewed for a friendly little blog called Studio M.M.E, and I wanted to share the link with you. Thanks again to Megan for the feature!
This is my favorite customer appreciation photo yet! (though, I do love them all, keep ‘em coming!)
I may even like it better than the original!
All winter cowls are discounted!
I’m about to expose my very first blatant rip-off of my crafty career (it’s not for profit, so I don’t feel so bad). A while back KnockKnocking was featured on Etsy and I fell in love with her wreaths. Shortly after reading her interview, I picked up some supplies at a thrift store to make my very own yarn wreath. I bought the only wreath that the thrift store had- a straw one- which coincidentally is the kind she uses- and two fake, kitschy birds.
And then the bag containing those things stayed exactly where I put them for months.
Until this weekend, that is, when I finally found some yarn that I liked. First, I rolled the two colours of yarn into balls to make the processes of wrapping the wreath much easier (less knots), and then started going around and around and around the straw, trying to avoid having any straw showing.
After a couple of hours of wrapping, my wreath looked like this:
I had to find/make some bits to have the whole thing look a bit more interesting, so that’s what I’ve been working on last night and today. I made some felt rosettes, seen below, and have added some cute buttons and will be exploring other options. I’m not sure if the birds will make it on there or not. I’ve already made and discarded two other kinds of flowers that I made from tutorials online, including this one. Keep tuned for the pictures of what it looks like when it’s all said and done.
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I can say, however, that I happily made this bird’s nest without ripping off anyone else’s idea. It’s for the window of the store where I work. All of the employees are crafty, so we’re trying to give the store a bit more personality, specifically the windows, in the hopes that it’ll draw a lot of attention. I love this bird’s nest and may want to take it home with me.
Another cowl for auction!
All proceeds from items sold on the To Haiti with Love auction go directly to the St. Joseph’s Family in Haiti. To make a bid, simply leave a comment (in the linked entry) with the amount of your bid and your email address. The auction will wrap up on February 8, 2010, and winners will be contacted right away to arrange payment and shipping. Good luck!
There’s a fantastic online auction happening right now, but only for a week, comprised of a talented group of creative people who’ve donated their wares for a good cause. (Pip included.)
Please go and check things out, over at To Haiti with Love
If you’re interested in what Pip’s got to offer, check it here.
I had to share this Etsy shop with any of you who are reading. I don’t wear fashion rings, but this shop is the very first one to ever make me rethink that!
Behold Midwest Alchemy
Pip Robins has been slowing down for the season, even though winter just started a couple of weeks ago. The business is a far cry from the months of getting several orders of cowls a day. There was one evening where I got seven orders in four hours. No more daily post office trips, no more sewing until midnight. I have more spare time than I know what to do with, and to be honest, it makes me a little uncomfortable. Now that crafting is in my life, I don’t know what I did without it! It feels very weird. I much prefer to be busy all night than sit around and do nothing.
Since cowls are so seasonal, I’m struggling to come up with a new idea for warmer weather. I am tired of purses, even though I have a dozen of them cut out and ready to sew, I just can’t bring myself to finish them. Making them brought out the creative side to my personality, something I’d never delved into before, outside of writing, I suppose. I don’t want to let Pip Robins die during the warmer months, so I have to find a new product.
I’m experimenting with these collars that I invented. I haven’t seen anything like this out there, ever. Sure, there are lots of different kinds of collars, but these ones are reversible and close with a magnetic clasp (I was accidentally sent the wrong size clasps by a supplier, so I had nothing to do with them until I figured these out). I was walking to pick up Ash from daycare one day and trying to figure out a closure other than a button or a snap (neither of which I’m good at doing), and the magnetic clasp popped into my head and I got SO excited that I could hardly wait to go home and sew my prototype (which you can see in my About page).
I was originally thinking about making the ones with clasps for children, but since my son is a terrible clothing model (he just wants to rip them off), I couldn’t really showcase them properly, so I never ended up doing them.
I don’t know. I really like them, I like to wear them, and I’m hoping they catch on for the rest of the year. Last year everyone was wearing those fashion scarves, so in an ideal world, people should switch to cowls!
