Happy 4th of July!

Last night my bf and I were BORED sitting in front of the tv with nothing on. All of a sudden we thought we heard fireworks outside. We looked out the living room window and discovered there was a HUGE fireworks show just starting. From the sound of it, we were pretty close to the spectacular show but my bf wanted to get closer. We jumped in the car and drove a couple of blocks north, closer to the action. It was awesome! Here are some of my favorite shots:







There are more amazing shots on my flickr account! You can see them here!

Not Related to Felt at All..

...but I just had to share this photo. I caught one of our cats sleeping on top of the washing machine today. So cute! (And yes the laundry on top WAS clean- but it was my boyfriend's. lol!)

The Doctor's In!

Be a Doctor Set PDF Toy Pattern Doctor Bag by GulfCoastCottage

Today I took the day off of work to visit my doctor. It was time for the yearly "fun" and also wanted to talk to her about feeling so tired all the time. It's hard to know if I'm feeling tired for medical reasons or just plain old stress. The past week at my day job was terribly emotional and have come to realize that even though my bosses are great have my back - the fools at HR make their own rules. I'm not quite sure if working for the government (even at a city level) is worth all of the politics (even at my measly low level).

What I have come to realize however is how much I love having an online felt shop. I enjoy putting together felt color combinations and wrapping sold orders with pretty ribbon. I like attention to detail and trying out new ways to market my shop. Even though I'm not selling enough felt to pay my bills, I hope that someday I can turn my attention fully to this business and have it support me.

Crafting with Felt

This weekend was a bit lackluster. I felt kind of bored and worn down from the work week before. However, I did experiment a little with my wool felt. I have seen a few tissue holders for sale around Etsy but didn't really see anything super cute- so I decided to come up with my own design. 

My idea for the cloud theme tissue holder comes from my months of allergies that should be long gone by now. I am constantly having to take allergy medication which frankly leaves me slightly out of it. So here is my first felt project posting entitled, "Head in the Clouds" tissue holder. It's super easy to make and I may post a pdf file in the future for free on how to make one yourself.

Muy Caliente!

When I'm not online selling wool craft felt, I am probably at my day job which I don't love but I don't hate either. My job requires me to work outside everyday even when it is over 100 degrees (it was 107 today.) However, I try to get the majority of my work done before 11:30 am (which happens almost everyday since I start at 5am.)

I also spend the majority of my work day solo which I love. I get to work at my own pace without a boss constantly breathing down my neck. I get to think about my online businesses and how to make them better. And I get to listen to all sorts of podcasts I've downloaded from iTunes. Here are some of my favorites:

• The Adam Carolla Show- They have recently reverted back to the format when the show was on the air all the time with Teresa and Bald Brian on everyday. Yay!
• The Parent Experiment- Teresa from the Adam Carolla show has her own podcast with Adam's wife Lynnette. It's about parenting and even though I really don't want to have children, the podcast is still fun to listen to.
  
• Craftsanity- An interesting and information filled podcast with interviews of craft authors and craft business owners.
  
• Internet Business Mastery- I've learned a ton about starting, selling, and promoting online businesses. And some strange reason, I really like the host's voices.
• WNYC's Radiolab- Where you can learn about really interesting and different topics. My absolute favorite episode is called In C where one of the hosts creates his own In C remix.

On the felt store news front, I have lowered the price of the large 40cm x 40cm pieces of felt from $10 to $9.50. The previous price of $10 seemed too high for the size of felt and I'm experimenting to see if the lower price gets more hits.

New in Shop- Felt Swatch Samples!!

Yesterday, while laying on the couch just waking up from my afternoon nap, (Sorry I have to take a nap when I get home from my day job- I get up at 3:30 am to make my 5:00 am start time.) I had a spark of inspiration. One of the most frustrating parts of having a strictly online business is that the customer isn't able to use any other senses than sight when making a purchase. And sometimes the other senses are what makes the sale.

I mean, how many different shampoo bottles do I sniff before selecting one I like? Or when I walk into a movie theater and smell the fresh popcorn. I really really want to buy some even though it always makes me stomach churn after I eat it. It's really a collection of one's senses that makes a successful sale.

So, I have come up with a solution for my shop. I will offer one 5cm x 5cm square of both the 100% felt and European heathered Felt for a super low price so that everyone can afford to experience and touch the felt. Here is what a couple of the sets look like:

Cute! Aren't they? My shop tag will also be attached but you will have to purchase a set to see what it looks like. The sets will come in all random colors but if you want a certain color specifically mailed to you, I can do that too.

On another note, I've decided to discontinue my wool felt from Spain for now. I may bring it back later but I found that many were confused by the two different 100% wool felt sheets and by eliminating this option, I will be simplifying everything between my Etsy and Artfire shops.

The Color Chart is Here!

Here are the 48 colors of the fuzzy 100% wool felt that I offer from Material Evidence Shop on Etsy! (The color chart for Artfire is coming soon!)

(Click on the chart to make the image bigger.)

I am more than happy to put together custom sets of felt!  A set of 5 sheets in the 20cm x 30cm size is $12 and each additional sheet is $2.40. Feel free to convo me at my shop here: www.materialevidenceshop.etsy.com

Felt Flowers for Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day!

Today my bf and I went to breakfast with my mom and day to celebrate Mother's Day. My mother's favorite flowers are yellow tulips so I try to buy her some every year on this day.  As I was buying the tulips, I was thinking.. hmm.. I should try to make these out of felt. That way she could have tulips year round! I couldn't find any tutorials specifically about tulips (maybe I will construct some for next year) but here are some other felt flowers I thought were quite pretty.

gwendolyn by Accessoire on Etsy

Tulips in Blue Hair Clips by bialakura on Etsy

Felted Rose Flower by BigFrozenMelon on Etsy

Waterlily Felt Handmade Pincushion by SeaPinks on Etsy

Multicolored Wool Felt Flower Brooch by murdockdesign on Etsy

Perfectly Pink in Every Way Headband by louandlee

I absolutely love the 3-D flowers that are so popular now and found this great beginning tutorial on how to construct a felt rose bud bouquet by Creative Jewish Mom! So pretty! 

Issues Not Forseen with the Felt Biz- Issue 1

Hi everyone! I'm starting a new series in my adventures of starting this fabric shop. It is entitled, "Issues Not Forseen with the Felt Biz." Because really, I'm sure that there will be many, many more items I haven't thought of yet. Hopefully this information will help out my fellow small business friends because maybe you are having the same issues as well.

Anyway, this week I have had two problems. The first being that I bought some of my craft supply in large 100 cm by 180 cm sheets to save on cost. Which is fine monetary wise but I had no idea that it would take DAYS to cut the felt up in to 20 cm by 30 cm pieces. And honestly, I didn't even cut it all up- I cut just enough to get my shop going.  If my shop becomes busy in the future I might have to purchase the squares precut even though the cost is higher per sheet.

The second problem I had is that I purchase my felt currently from two different suppliers. The felt that is made in Spain only comes in 25 colors and is ever so slightly smoother in texture. The felt that is made in Europe comes in 54 colors and has a slightly woolier, softer texture. Initially I was going to purchase both so that I have more to choose from and sell them combined but I was really bothered that they had different surface textures. I wasn't sure if I wanted to just abandon the felt from Spain or sell it anyway since I already spent a large amount of money on it. 

I ended up taking two identical colors of the two different felts to work and took a small poll of which felt people would prefer. Unfortunately about half preferred one and half preferred the other which didn't help my decision making at all. So, after much deliberation I decided I will be selling both felts. My Artfire shop will carry the smooth felt from Spain in single sheets for purchase and my Etsy shop will carry the European wooly felt in groups of 5. I hope that you will like my selection of 100% wool felt and may offer a couple of sample sheets for a small fee in the future to help you make your selection.

My Mini Moos Have Arrived!

Yesterday after a long day of thrifting and then going to my niece's 16th birthday party, I arrived home to find that my mini moo cards had come in the mail! How exciting! With my vintage clothing business I can print out my own business cards affordably since they are only in black in white but with Material Evidence, I wanted it to be all about color! So in turn, I wanted to make the business cards in color as well. And they turned out great!

Coming May 1st!

We will be stocking our first specialty fabric- 100% Wool Felt! The felt will come in 54 brilliant colors in a 20 cm x 30 cm size. Larger sizes of the felt will be available in the future. This felt is oh so soft and is perfect for making dolls, pillows, or any craft project you have in mind.