Karen’s Opinion

I have been grasping for things to write about because it seems like all I have been doing lately is sewing! Don’t get me wrong. I love to create things. I especially like to finish projects. Here is what I recently finished.

I am so excited! If any of you sell on the Internet, you know how important computer support is. It is not easy learning the ropes of how to put up a good picture and how to write a quality description of your product. IT support is wonderful as well as having friends who are passionate about making and selling handmade products.

I just received an email informing me that one of my bags was included in an Etsy Treasury. You Etsy sellers know how hard it is to get noticed amongst the thousands of sellers on Etsy. To have someone find one of your products let alone include it in a treasury is like, um, a miracle! Visit the treasury to see all the blue and green bags in this collection.

I belong to an Etsy group called Cabteam. That stands for Carried Away Bag Team. We are a group who love to make handbags, totes, wallets, etc. This group encourages each of us as we strive to make quality products and also raises money to help needy causes.

Since I knew we would be traveling to St. Louis last weekend, I was particularly interested in the blog post my blogging friend, Paige, put up on her wonderful blog, Lenox Knits. If you haven’t looked at the things Paige knits, I am warning you, you will have to buy one of her beautiful scarves. Anyway, Paige mentioned that she would have a booth at the Strange Folk Festival.

We decided that my husband shouldn’t do very much walking since he is just getting over a bout of tendinitis so we didn’t go to the festival. I am mentioning it here, on my blog, as a reference so that when we do get to go, I will have all the info.

The Strange Folk Festival showcases indie crafts and indie music. I didn’t really know the significance of the “indie” conotation so, of course, I used my Swagbucks search bar and did some searching. In the Urban Dictionary, indie is described as (n) an obscure form of rock which you only learn about from someone slightly more hip than yourself. I didn’t think that was quite the “indie” I was looking for so I went on to search at Wikipedia. There I found the following:

Indie is a shortform of “independent”
The indie design movement is made up of independent designers, artists and craftspeople who design and make a wide array of products without being part of large, industrialized businesses.

The indie design movement can be seen as being an aspect of the general indie movement and DIY culture.

Now that’s more like it! Yes, I believe the Strange Folk Festival is a gathering of artists who sell their handmade products. You can eat wonderful foods, listen to authors discuss their books and participate in the The Upcycle Exchange. Best of all, you can purchase beautiful, handmade items that will fill your life with pleasure while supporting the handmade movement.

I am constantly at my sewing table these past few days because my daughter is bringing guests from Michigan when she arrives tonight. My daughter’s friend has a five year old who will also be our guest. That means having a busy little girl in our home. She has been here before and is such a well behaved young lady. Still, it is best not to have valuable projects laying around. Especially ones that entail the use of scissors, pins and needles. Here is a purse I finished recently.

Now, I am cutting fabric to put a binding on a recently finished quilt.

This is my newest listing on my Etsy site.

The beautiful colors of this bag will make it your favorite bag to carry. It has a pocket on the outside that can hold your cell phone and keys. The lining is made with satin and has three pockets made with coordinating cotton fabric. It has a heavy duty zipper. The handles are made with two thicknesses of heavy interfacing. This purse is quilted with fusible fleece interfacing. A decorative button tops off the pocket.

15″ wide
9″ tall
Handles 8” drop

$35.00
$5.50 shipping