Search results (full) for: "susan beal"

Featured Buyer: Susan Beal of West Coast Crafty

2008-07-16T12:53:00-05:00

Susan Beal aka susanstars is a writer and crafter in Portland, OR. She wrote her first book, Super Crafty, with the ladies of the PDX Super Crafty collective, and her new jewelry-making book, Bead Simple, came out in March. She's also the new mama to an adorable two-month-old baby girl, Pearl. In the occasional moments that she's not baby-wrangling or crafting on deadline, Susan likes to drink coffee, browse cute handmade things on Etsy, and do her best to keep her West Coast Crafty blog updated.

I have always loved making crafty presents for friends and for my family, but I never realized just how busy I would get once my baby Pearl came along — and suddenly it's a lot easier to find lovely things for her, and my friends' babies, that other people have made! If you have a new mother and baby in your life to shop for, here are a few of my favorite handmade gift ideas to browse, and a few patterns with which to do your own crafting.

Since I'm in beautiful, crafty Portland, of course I had to spotlight a few fellow Oregonians. Ryan and Lucy aka berkleyillustration are at the top of my list. Ryan's whole well-dressed animal series is lovely, but I have a big soft spot for his Lady Squirrel print, which is one of my favorite things in Pearl's room.

I picked up PearlyGrey's Baby to Go set and it's been so handy! Pearl is wearing her pear onesie right now, actually...

Speaking of onesies, we have a couple of AntelopeBaby's bright-colored screen-printed ones and they are instant favorites.

I met another Portland crafter, DogGoneKnitting, at this month's Crafty Wonderland and I'm eyeing this super cute dress for Pearl a couple of years down the road.

Our friend bossanovababy gave us one of MyRedGumball's vintage-imagery bibs at our crafty shower. Awesome.

Way over in the other Portland (Maine), I love all the baby onesies and Ts by ferdinandhome, especially this cutie.

I am a huge fan of jekbot's colorful work — it's all gorgeous. This pop memory game would be a super fun gift for a big brother or sister when you're shopping for the new baby.

I also fell for this bright, glittery star mobile hand-folded by Stjarnkraft. She makes them in all different color combinations, but I especially love this assortment.

While you're choosing things for a baby's room, I think that a custom prayer flags banner by flederhaus (maybe spelling out his or her name in American Sign Language?) would be fantastic.

Probably the single most useful baby thing we have is a good swaddling blanket, and I just love the ones that ElephantEars makes.

...and the gorgeous, soft littlesnugglebunny blanket that our friend belleepoque chose for Pearl is perfect to layer right over it.

For taking the baby out and about, I love using a sling, and I just ordered this one from RaspberryBaby in grey — but she makes them in dozens of colors if you have a favorite in mind.

Finally, if you have plenty of time for crafting your own gifts (lucky!), how about picking up some patterns for a whole world of baby necessities from seweasypatterns? She offers lots of individual ones to choose from, plus this fantastic set of 25.

Further Resources:
West Coast Crafty
Craft Zine: Babies
Craft Zine: Kids
Soule Mama
Angry Chicken
All Buttoned Up
Shim and Sons

For more of Susan's wit and wisom, check out her blog and past Storque posts about her!

Handmade Kids Series | Special Kids Showcase | Baby Gift Guide | Children Gift Guide

CraftyStylish & the Storque Give Some Etsy Tips to Jewelry Sellers

2008-05-13T14:32:00-05:00

Susan Beal, aka susanstars, author of Bead Simple and overall crafty lady and writer-extraordinaire, has put up a helpful post on CraftyStylish. It gives jewelers some tips if they're thinking of starting an Etsy shop...tips from yours truly and my co-conspirator, Etsy admin daniellexo. The wonderful jewelry of Etsy seller Stamp gets some nice props, too.

CraftyStylish is a new website brought to you by Taunton Press, a publishing company specializing in books and magazines for crafters, as well as other makers. With tutorials, content on materials and trends, CraftyStylish aims to connect crafters around inspiring ideas and creative projects. Susan is their resident beading expert. Definitely worth checking out!

The Mega-Beth Tour: Anaheim Edition

2008-02-25T18:44:00-05:00

Beth, who works on the Etsy Business Operations Team, is on the road with a slew of business trips for Etsy, and so she's meeting with Etsy sellers along the way and filling us in on her travels. Thus, we're calling it the Mega-Beth Tour, Beth's professionalism notwithstanding. Here's her account...

This trip, I was accompanied by the lovely Christina (aka missbatch) where she showed me the ropes at the annual Craft and Hobby Association (CHA) trade show. This was a huge trade show, comprised of nearly a thousand craft supply manufacturers — and I was certainly overwhelmed, but we met a lot of great people and hopefully planted seeds that will turn into great partnerships and relationships. We are excited to tell you more about that once it is developed in the months to come.

While I was disappointed to be so close to Disneyland and not have a chance to hang with Mickey, I was very happy to be able sit down with a couple of fantastic Etsy sellers: Nina of ninagibsondesigns and Christine of chocolateandsteel, who made the trip from Los Angeles to meet us. Both were very excited about our new Cooperative Advertising Program, although they were disappointed they missed getting a spot (I hope you had better luck the next time around). Some of their favorite features are Shop Local (also my personal favorite), where they received a few local orders for Valentine's Day, and Pounce, which is a great way to find new and upcoming artists.

Christina and I also got a sneak peak at ninagibsondesigns new prototype necklace (on the left in the picture above); she was inspired by a buyer request to turn one of her tally mark earring designs into a necklace. The necklace on the right, made from precious metal clay, is by chocolateandsteel. It is called Accept Love and is for sale in her shop. Both ladies welcome custom orders, so drop them a convo if you have something special in mind.

While walking the floor at the CHA, Christina and I had the opportunity to meet Cathie Filian, an avid Etsy seller, blogger and co-host of DIY's Creative Juice, along with Steve Piacenza (pictured above, left). We also met Cathie's husband Gary Byers (above, right), who admitted since the writers' strike he has been very busy helping her fulfill Etsy orders. Their energy was infectious and their crafts are just too cute! Check out the glossy Elizabeth Taylor pop art they made for Plaid paint.

Other highlights of the trip included catching up with Storque contributor and westcoastcrafty blogger Susan Beal, whose new jewelry book, Bead Simple, hits newsstands the end of March.

Christina met up with Vickie Howell, Etsy seller and host of Craft.Rock.Love., her series of podcasts, available for your listening pleasure here. (She was actually texting the pattern for a knitted tie to a friend, when we snapped her picture: we love when high-tech meets handmade!)

And last, but certainly not least, we got to preview crafty chica Cathy Cano Murillo's new line of crafty goodness for Duncan, including paints, stencils and glitter (of course!), plus lots of fun bases for embellishment like Frida-printed totes, "Create a Saint" icons and chihuahuas! Don't you love her customized apron?

Many thanks to everyone for sharing their time and thoughts about Etsy. I am looking forward to seeing another group of sellers soon in Chicago.

See Beth's post from her previous trip to Miami.

Recommended Blogs: West Coast Crafty

2007-09-20T16:23:00-05:00

We want to stay on top of what our crafty sisters and brothers are up to on the west coast and we'll often take a peek at West Coast Crafty, Susan Beal's blog. She's a consumate writer: she co-authored Super Crafty (check out the accompanying PDX Super Crafty blog too) and has contributed to crafty magazines and books all over the place. We're hoping she'll contribute something to The Storque sometime soon!

Susan has been writing West Coast Crafty since 2005, so you can dig deep in the archives. You can see the recent history of gallery shows, events, and happenings unfold as you scroll through. Or how about this post about a bio-diesel shuttle between Portland and Seattle? Get thee to the West Coast, ye backward Easterners!

Say hi to Susanstars on Etsy!