Last week I experienced something new: I met two other Michigan women that I knew only from their blogs and/or Etsy shops. It's kind of like going to a theater and one of the actors walking off the screen and sitting next to you in the audience. Well, maybe not that dramatic, but it was pretty exciting nonetheless!
My first new real-life friend is Felicia Kramer, who I became acquainted with two years ago when she created an artist/crafter interview with me for her cleverly named blog, Another Bright Idea. We've kept in touch regularly ever since, and I've learned that Felicia does indeed have many bright ideas. She also has two Etsy shops, Another Bright Idea, where she sells digital prints, photography and home decor, and More Bright Ideas, which features upcycled and recycled items and holiday wares. I think these little notebooks Felicia makes would be great stocking stuffers:
One of Felicia's beautiful wreaths was recently featured in Romantic Homes magazine:
Felicia brought her good friend Janet Wieczorek, who runs a wonderful Etsy shop full of felt called Felt on the Fly, and I will forgive you if you stop reading this post right now and go there to do some shopping! We're not talking ordinary craft store felt. Janet's felt is imported from Europe, 100% wool, and it comes in colors you've never seen before. In fact, Janet has 99 colors of felt in her shop. That's more than any big chain store has, and the quality is beyond compare!
Janet also has a blog named Felt on the Fly where she shares some fabulous examples of the projects customers have created with her felt. The lovely embroidery folder (below) was created by Janet herself. I love the pastel color palette:
Wouldn't this make a nice gift?
Felicia created a lovely blog post about her friend Janet, and you can read more about Janet's felt business here.
So the three of us had a nice lunch together, paid for by generous Felicia. We got to know each other much better, exchanged tips about selling on Etsy, and then proceeded to the Livingston Antique Outlet in Howell to do some shopping. I had to drop off a carload of goods in my two antique mall spaces there, and each of us found some treasures to buy.
Felicia took a picture of me arranging a sofa table in my "Mantiques" booth:
I'm most excited about the felt I bought from Janet. I ordered a short stack of heathered felt. Just look at it! Heathered felt has little dark strands running through it:
Now I have to decide what to make with it. I'm sure flowers of some sort will be involved....
Here are the three new "amigas":
Felicia, Janet and I agreed to meet again sometime. We are all very busy women, but I think we learned a little from each other and benefitted from the camaraderie. I know I did! And if you live in the Detroit suburbs, keep track of these two ladies by following their blogs. You might catch them at a craft show in the area!
Mitzi
