In the Spotlight-Deidre from We Craft Daily

So I happened upon Deidre when I was following Season Three of So You Think You're Crafty. Upon taking a look at her blog 'We Craft Daily', I realized she was local! I approached her about utilizing some of our fabric for her final project and lucky for me she agreed! Well after all was said and done Deidre was the WINNER of Season Three of SYTYC.

Take a peak into her crafty life with our little interview. I've also included some pics of her projects-I am in love with the carseat cover-especially since we have our 2nd little one due in Dec.

How did you decide to enter SYTYC?

I didn't think I was capable of doing it, but just thought I would enter and see what would happen. It was really a personal challenge. A way of pushing myself beyond my limits.

Tell us a little bit about yourself

I am a mother of four children under the age of 6. That in and of itself is a busy life, but a wonderful one at that. My husband and I are both photographers for our business, Realife Photography. That, too, is insanely busy. But it is also an outlet and something fun for us to do together. I'm a busy person... often putting too much on my plate at one time. :) I just can't say no... mostly, I don't WANT to say no to so many things. I love to do a variety of activities and hobbies... what can I say?

how long have you been crafting

I can't even give a start time. It's always been a part of my life in so many ways.

how did you learn to craft

I grew up crafting with my grandmother and painting/drawing with my other. I took senior photos for friends while I was still in high school. Learned to crochet in college and majored (for a year) in art education. I taught myself to knit and sew (with the help of my grandmother) after I had children. It's a quiet, peaceful thing to craft and create at night when the little ones are all tucked in to bed.

what's your favorite crafting activity/medium

That's tough... probably sewing. i love the joy of making clothes for my children and saving money.

do you sell your craft anywhere

Not currently. But I am working on selling custom car seat covers on Etsy. Stay tuned for that in the next week or two... http://www.etsy.com/shop/Deeedra

do you have a crafting blog/why did you start it

I do have a crafting blog called A craft a day. My goal was to do a craft a day. But honestly, with all the things that have happened in life lately, it just hasn't been possible. SYTYC really hindered me having the time to do so too. Hopefully I will get more time soon. But you can check it out at www.wecraftdaily.blogspot.com

when do you find time to craft

Lately, not often. But when I do, it's late in the night after my little ones are in bed until about 12:00 or 1:00 in the morning. You do what you have to :)

would you do sytyc again

I would consider it. It was VERY draining and yet, so self enlightening. I didn't think I could do what I did! I didn't think I was creative enough or even good enough at my craft

do you wish you could quit your day job and make crafting a business
or prefer to keep it a hobby

Not really as photography is art and art is really my love. I'm already doing that. I wouldn't change that for the world! I have done a lot of boring jobs in the past and none of them compare to what I do now. I love it! I prefer to keep sewing as a hobby that makes a little money here and there. It's my outlet from my business.

do your children craft/do you think it is/should be an important part
of their childhood

Not enough. They want to, but I find myself running all over the place so often that it's hard to do so. I do think it is VERY important and want so desperately to do more of it with them. I'm crossing my fingers that I will more this summer yet.

what is your favorite thing you've ever made

That's tough! I think my favorite crafts have been the gifts I have made for my children, a cape for my two year old, the magician costume (made for SYTYC) as a gift for my son (he hasn't gotten yet, his b-day is Saturday!), and the dress up box (featured on my blog) for my daughters birthday. But, my favorite useful craft has been the outdoor play mat (also made for SYTYC). THe play mat has been so great for my 9 month old. It's definitely my husbands favorite too :)

what are your fav craft blogs/websites

I have so many favorites, and you may even share some of mine. I love Dana from Made, Disney from ruffles and stuff, Amy from angrychicken, Char from crap I've made (love the title too:), and Grace from design sponge.

Not a Big Box Store

So I've been thinking about how to approach this post for awhile and I want to first make a disclaimer that this is not meant to offend anyone-I have the thoughts in my head but not quite sure how they will translate into the blog world!

So let me start by saying that I do not own a Big Box Store or a Chain Store or a Discount Store. I started Drawstring Studio because of a quilt I was making for my son for his first birthday. I went to the local Big Box Store looking for fabrics, I wasn't in love with any, but picked some out because I thought that was my only option. Later I was told about an independent fabric store on the other side of town. I went and the fabric selection was awesome! The fabrics were nothing I had seen before, they were heavier weight and better quality and ultimately were much easier to work with when quilting. (I ended up ripping apart all of the other squares that I had made using the Box Store fabric)

This lead me to look into it further and realize that we needed a fabric store on our side of town. Fast forward almost 6 months and Drawstring Studio was born.

I am not looking to compete with the discount stores, my prices will not match theirs, but their products will not match mine either. I am looking to support the crafters out there and to add to our community. Handmade is an art that has been making a huge comeback and I am so excited to be apart of it! I love what I do and love that I am able to share it.

Thanks for listening and if you have any questions or comments, please don't hesitate to shoot me an email at drawstringstudio[at]gmailDOTcom.

New Fabrics on Order!

I came across the Monaluna new Monaco Organic collection a couple of weeks ago and I AM IN LOVE! I have the order ready to go and the items are ready to ship so hopefully it's only a matter of days before I have these great fabrics in the store. I may even buy some yardage for myself to make a couple of things. Take a look and let me know what you think!!!!

Zewing Girl

I am SO very excited to announce that we are carrying Zewing Girl Items. I contacted Tracy about a month ago about making some items for the store. She stopped in, we picked some fabrics, and now we have these great items in the store.

If you live in the Milwaukee area, you're probably already familiar with Zewing Girl, she makes awesome items out of fabric including key chains, headbands, watches and more. You can check out her website HERE.

In our store we currently have keychains, headbands, rings, bookmarks and ponytail holders. I plan on expanding the variety of items that we carry from her ad time goes on and will have watches and bands closer to the holidays. All of the fabrics from the designs we have are made utilizing the fabric from the store!

Unfortunately I am not offering these items online at this time and don't have any plans to in the near future, but if you see a fabric you like in the store and would like to custom order a piece let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Sorry for the delay!

So I've had a bit of a delay in the slew of posts I've had planned for this week...manily due to the lack of internet at the store-which thankfully I remedied today!!!! Hello broadband. But these are the things I've learned along the way to getting where I'm at right now....

-Having no internet SUCKS, especially when you sell things online

-Figuring out what type and who you want to go thru for internet is entirely way too complicated

-the people who work at Best Buy near the cell phones have serious ADD-they just walk off when they are helping people, totally making the process longer

-The people at Verizon are nice, but I have no idea if they even helped me or if my broadband just decided to work

-I dont' think having Ethan in the store with me is going to work, even if it's only one day a week-I can only give him so many things to entertain himself

Ok I think that's enough of a little rant about the process of getting internet. All in all everything is A-OK and I can start listing items again and ordering.

So check back for some interviews-I'm a bit behind and have a couple of great ladies that I want to feature soon! (If you are a crafter or want to recommend a crafter to be featured, drop me a line at drawstringstudio [at] gmail DOT com)

Adios for now-I have to run and try to get my ad in before the deadline :)

The Store

Here are some quick pics I took before the Grand Opening on Saturday-I hope to have some professional ones taken in the next few weeks!

Also a big thank you to:

Charlies Catering Company

Sugar and Flour

Classy Girl Cupcakes

for providing great food and desserts!

Man vs George Design

I found this great card company when I last visited my "Shop Locally" section of Etsy. I immediately knew that the style would fit well into my shop. Just look at the tagline:

****WELCOME TO MAN vs. GEORGE, home of fun, modern greeting cards for people who think outside of the big box card shops.****

Lucky for me the cards I chose were in stock and now I will be carrying a small selection of Man vs George cards in the shop. Feel free to browse designs on the Man vs George Design Etsy Shop at manvsgeorge.etsy.com