Beans Blog

Maya

2012-01-23T17:03:00.000-08:00

Maya in Ontario, Canada will have nice and cozy ears this winter in her Blue Baron hat - Thanks so much to Esther for sharing this adorable photo with us!

Maisie

2012-01-19T16:50:00.000-08:00

Maisie is adorable in her new custom cranberry high collar sweater, and she is also the furkid of our Arts Dean at Metropolitan Community College where I now teach full time. Thanks very much to Tom for sharing the photo, and to Maisie for being pretty much the cutest.

Check out all of our customer photos here in our Flickr pool.

Lilly and Rufus in Germany

2012-01-13T06:08:00.000-08:00

These fabulous customer photos came from Arlette in Germany. Her adorable red fawn and brindle Frenchies received Abominable Snow Bean hats, a Shakespeare and a custom crocheted collar. The hats are taupe with magenta and navy pom poms. Thanks so much to Arlette for sharing these beautiful images with us!

Making Paint Move

2012-01-08T16:52:00.000-08:00

I am so proud of my husband Michael - a video piece about his painted animations aired this week on NET television. Michael creates animations by painting, photographing, wiping away, painting, photographing - again and again, until about 3,000 images later he has a few minutes of moving image. The video opens with his animation of Bean barking at an elephant in a tree in a piece titled "Up the Wrong Tree". I'm in the video as well for a short bit, and they show an excerpt from our collaborative animation Tween. I hope you'll take a look!

Bean and Lily's Virginia Adventure

2012-01-02T07:34:00.000-08:00

Bean and Lily had a great time in Virginia for the holidays. They ran up and down the beach with their new flying squirrel in Virginia Beach on the Chesapeake Bay. The weather was great, with sixty degree temps and just a light breeze for most of our visit. The water wasn't too cold but Bean and Lily didn't have much interest in getting too close.

After our visit to Virginia Beach we took a trip to Colonial Williamsburg with my sister and brother in law. Bean posed with this beautiful statue of Thomas Jefferson. After so many hours in the car to get to the east coast, the pups really enjoyed all the exercise and visiting with friends and family.

Happy New Year from Bean, Lily, Michael and Anne!

Shirley's New Stripes

2011-12-08T17:47:00.000-08:00

Lovely Shirley is modeling her new custom high collar sweater in taupe with bright multi colored stripes and blossom accent.

Photos like these really make my day when I'm caught up in the holiday rush, thanks so much to Lisa in Wisconsin for sharing and to Shirley for being such a wonderful model. You can see Shirley's other beautiful photos here and here.

Daisy

2011-12-04T17:51:00.000-08:00

Daisy in Kingston Ontario is looking so lovely in her new high collar and ultra warm sweaters. The high collar sweater is made in taupe with a fern stripe (also called lemongrass on our swatch). Daisy's ultra warm sweater is made in black. Both are a size small. Thanks so much to Fleur for sending in these great photos!

I'm not able to make any more sweaters before the holidays and we are almost completely sold out on our website and Etsy, but do have a waiting list for those of you that would like one after the holiday rush is over. I will be happy to contact you as soon as I'm able to take new custom sweater orders, and hope to start filling them in 3-4 weeks. Thanks so much for your support this holiday season!

Our Handmade Portrait Premiere

2011-11-30T15:45:00.000-08:00

Yesterday our Handmade Portrait debuted on Etsy and we are so thrilled with the result! It was the first time we saw the piece since Tony and Bryce from Mile Deep Films and Television came last month. The experience of filming was such a joy, and I think the result really reflected the feel of our little family and our love for Bean and what we do. I hope you enjoy it, we are in love with the finished piece. Bean is so far unfazed by is new super-stardom (as I type this he just farted, whirled around and smelled it - good job keeping it real dude!).

Handmade Portraits: Beantown Handmade from Etsy on Vimeo.

Gluten Free Chocolate Bourbon Balls

2011-11-23T14:24:00.000-08:00

Today was all about Thanksgiving preparations! A little bit of holiday decorating before Thanksgiving and some prepping in the kitchen for the big feast tomorrow really left me feeling like the holidays are officially here. I made bourbon balls this afternoon and thought I would share this great recipe with you. I am drawn to all things chocolate and flourless because it usually means it will be a rich bittersweet dessert. These chocolate balls are everything I love about chocolate desserts with the added touch of bourbon to kick them up a notch. I based this recipe off of Stephs' Bourbon Balls from Allrecipes.com, and the biggest change I made this year was to substitute gluten free vanilla wafers for traditional wafers. We have a friend with a gluten allergy, and I was pleased to find these wafers at the local grocery. They are every bit as delicious, if not more, than regular vanilla wafers. The best part about this dessert (other than the bourbon) is that they can be made a day ahead and require no baking. I also cut back on the amount of white sugar since I found I never used the full amount called for in the original recipe (1 cup) to roll on the outside of the finished balls.

a yummy and easy to make a chocolate bourbon treat

This recipe is for 40 1" balls, and it takes about 40-45 minutes to make the batch

1/2 cup white sugar
5 cups vanilla wafer crumbs ( I crushed up Schar's gluten free vanilla wafers)
1 cup confectioners' sugar
2 cups chopped pecans
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons light corn syrup
1/2 cup bourbon whiskey

Place white sugar in a bowl and set aside.

Mix crushed vanilla wafers, pecans and confectioner's sugar in bowl.

Heat chocolate chips in microwave 1-2 minutes to melt. Stir in bourbon and corn syrup.

Slowly add the chocolate mixture to the vanilla wafer mixture until blended.

Shape the dough into 1" balls and roll in sugar.

Place on a wire rack to firm.

We used Bulleit Bourbon Frontier Whiskey for this year's batch. Using a good tasting bourbon makes all the difference with this dessert since you are not baking it. I found in the past when I've used a really cheap bourbon the aftertaste ruined their flavor. Michael is excited to finish the bottle!

finding a bourbon with a good flavor makes all the difference

Bean dragged his bed in to keep a close eye on the kitchen

Lily took a nap and admired my decorations on the mantel

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Bailey's New Striped Sweater

2011-11-20T06:55:00.000-08:00

Bailey has the sweetest Bostie face

I made her a custom Ultra Warm sweater in citron with lemongrass stripe

Thanks so much to Steve in Chicago for sharing these cute photos! You can see more pics of Bailey modeling her Beantown here.

Bean's Bump

2011-11-17T07:35:00.000-08:00

So before you panic when you see these pictures of our little guy, know that Bean is now fully recovered and back to his handsome self. About six weeks ago, Bean woke up with a strange red bump next to his eye. We gave it a few days hoping it was just a bug bite or ingrown hair, but when it didn't disappear inside a week we thought we should take him to the vet. Our vet was pretty confident the bump was a benign tumor (also called histiosarcoma), but she wanted to remove it for a few reasons. The first is that with it being so close to his eye there was no way to test it (she called this aspirating). I don't blame her for not wanting to get near Bean's eye with a needle. Bean is notorious for his bad behavior at the vet. When he was a puppy he was so nervous about a trip to the vet he pooped all over their wall (and the vet, bless her heart). The second big reason to remove the tumor was that it was so close to his eye and he was scratching at it. We wanted to make sure he didn't damage his eye in an effort to scratch at his bump. So even though we had a lot of anxiety about Bean going under for surgery, we decided to go with the vet's recommendation. We took Bean in early one morning and just a few hours later they called to let us know he was recovering and almost ready to go home.

After the surgery his face looked great. It was so much better looking without the big pink bump. A few days later we believe he popped one of the stitches, because it started looking pretty gross. It did have a scab though, so we decided to wait it out a few days. Sure enough, the power of dogs to heal is remarkable and within another week the scab was disappearing and the hair was starting to grow back. Of course, all of this happened when the filmaker (Anthony from Mile Deep Films) was supposed to come to film the interview for Etsy. There was a little stress about Bean not looking his usual self for the camera.

After weekly updates on Bean's facial status - scab progression, hair growth, etc, Bean was finally back to his beautiful camera ready self and looked great on film (the piece should be up on Etsy in a few months). All that is now left of that yucky bump is a small black dot where it once was. I wanted to share this now that the scare is over so that if you see a similar bump on your pup you'll know to go get it checked out right away. We are really lucky that our little guy was just fine and the bump was benign. Bean means the world to us and is a huge part of our little family. He has already forgotten about the whole episode, though I don't know if this improved his opinion of the vet!

Sweet Thelma

2011-11-03T06:17:00.000-07:00

Thelma is the cutest in her new Ultra Warm sweater in Citron. Thanks so much to Karen for sharing these photos!

Bean and Lil (and me!) on the Small Screen

2011-10-30T09:02:00.000-07:00

Bean and Lily had some exciting visitors to the house this week - Anthony Ladesich and Bryce Young of Mile Deep Films and Television were here to interview us for a feature for Etsy. Tony and Bryce are based out of Kansas City and traveled up to Lincoln to do an interview.

They also filmed us photographing supermodel Bean and got a lot of studio shots. Bean was very intrigued by all the cameras and after a few hours of sniffing and snorting, he started to warm up to our guests. It was a wonderful experience and we are really looking forward to seeing how the piece comes out. The finished product will appear on Etsy's blog as part of their video series called Handmade Portraits. We're not sure when it will be up (probably a month or two), but we'll be sure to let you know!

Bean modeled this string tie Beanzilla hat for the crew

Cozy Tokyo Pup

2011-10-27T17:38:00.000-07:00

Thanks to Yoshifumi for leaving this cute photo in our Etsy feedback, along with this great comment "Beautifully made and fits my dog well (keeping her nice and warm)! Also, it came in good time all the way to Japan -- どうもありがとう (thank you very much) :)"
We're glad your pup is staying nice and warm in her black Baron hat!

Cozy Rosie

2011-10-13T18:32:00.000-07:00

Rosie is looking snug as a bug in her new ultra warm sweater in citron. Rosie's owner Katie is having engagement photos taken and bought this for Rosie to wear in the pics. I'm always honored to make something for special events. Thanks for sharing this photo Katie!

Ruby

2011-09-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Ruby is showing off her new collar corsage. Thanks to @RubytheBT for sharing this cute pic with us on Twitter. We will be posting holiday collar corsages before you know it, but for now we're really enjoying the start of fall!

Samantha

2011-09-27T18:27:00.000-07:00

Samantha in New York City is looking warm and cozy in her new toffee high collar sweater. Thanks so much to Robert for sharing these adorable photos!

Doodles!

2011-09-15T06:20:00.000-07:00

I just arranged three big planters to go outside our new house, but I like this arrangement much better! Doodles is showing off her new Cotton Candy Crocheted Collar in a flower pot. She is just too adorable and so photogenic. Thanks very much to Sheriff Winston Lark for sharing this great photo.

Totally Epic Roasted Salsa

2011-09-05T07:55:00.000-07:00

We've been in our new house for just a little over a week and we love it! I will be sure to post some pictures once everything is put together. Everything is out of boxes but as first time home owners going from a 700 square foot house to one that has over 2300 total square feet we are finding we don't have nearly enough furniture! Most things are on the floor at the moment. The dogs love the new yard. Michael put up a green wire mesh over the split rail fence so the pups were able to run free (and he enjoyed not having to build a new fence right away). Surprisingly the dogs also love the carpet. We've always had hard wood and I was really uneasy about having light colored carpet throughout the house. The dogs seem to love that anywhere is a bed now, and often choose the carpet over their dog beds or even the sofa. They don't slide when they run around anymore either, so there have been lots of zoomies! With little furniture they have a lot of space to race.

I do miss our garden. Before we moved out of the rental I gathered together as many veggies as I could and made pesto and salsa. I also froze all of our herbs, and I'll share info about that next week. We had about 4 big tomatoes and quite a few small tomato varieties and that made a nice sized batch of spicy roasted salsa, but this is more of a blueprint than a recipe. I tend to change it up almost every time I make it. We had a boatload of cherry tomatoes last year and sometimes I would make salsa with just those. Just halve them and roast them skin side up.

Totally Epic Roasted Salsa

6 large tomatoes, chopped into large chunks (skinned and seeded if you prefer - I'm too lazy)
1 jalapeno, chopped and seeded (if you leave the seeds in it will be pretty hot)
3/4 cup sweet onion
1/2 green bell pepper ( I used two small ones we grew in the garden)
2-5 cloves of garlic (I used seven small cloves in the batch pictured, but we love garlic)
2 teaspoons of olive oil
1 tablespoon sugar
1/4 cup fresh chopped cilantro
salt and pepper to taste
juice of one lime

Spread chopped tomatoes, jalapeno, sweet onion, bell pepper and garlic in a roasting pan and drizzle olive oil on top. Add a sprinkle of salt and pepper. Roast in oven about 475 for 8-10 minutes or until the tomatoes shrivel. If you like more of a char flavor you can leave them in until they brown or place them under the broiler. Let the tomatoes and veggies cool, then place them in a food processor and blend to your desired texture. Add cilantro, sugar and lime juice.

Other ingredients we've tried and loved in this salsa:
Anaheim pepper in addition to the jalapeno and green pepper for a little extra crunch
1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce (smokey and spicey!)

You may also see the three Tabasco chiles in our batch pictured above. Those are hot! We grew them in the garden this year and they've done very well. I made Tabasco sauce last week and the vapor from the peppers cooking nearly made me pass out. It was a fun (but one time only) experiment!

The Tumbling Tumbleweeds

2011-08-21T07:17:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about living in Nebraska is the spectacular storms that roll through. Last week we had another large storm with strong winds that produced baseball sized hail just north of us. The light before the storm was a beautiful yellow and we stayed outside as long as we could until the storm hit. It was quiet and very eery out, and eventually I decided to go inside and turn the radio on to check for tornado warnings. Lily is not a big fan of severe weather, and I'm always amazed how she can sense even the tiniest pressure change before a storm. She likes us to all be in one place and will try to round me up if I'm in a different room than Michael.

After the rain let up I saw a tumbleweed hurling down our street. It was still lightning out but I had to take a quick picture because I think they are amazing. When my husband and I lived in our old apartment, we found a tumbleweed over four feet wide in our yard one morning. It was the first one I had ever seen and I had no idea how big they can be. Since we are from the east coast, these are still such a novelty to us!

"Here on the range I belong, drifting along with the tumbling tumbleweeds..."

Retro Photos

2011-08-17T16:59:00.000-07:00

Last week I went to Palm Beach for a girls' weekend and we had a blast! The weather was beautiful and I even got a little sun on my pale Nebraskan limbs. My friend Kali took this great picture of me eating at Sprinkles ice cream with her IPhone using Hipstamatic.

I keep waiting for Hipstamatic to come out with a version for Android, but was pleased to find Retro Camera this week for my HTC Evo. With 5 old school camera settings available, it gives me some new ways to photograph my favorite furry subjects. So far, I'm pleased with the free app and happy to finally have some funky looking prints of my own.

Since I don't think I will ever stop taking daily photos of our pups, it's nice to have some new formats to try out! It's been a busy month and promises to get even busier with the move and my new job. We are closing on our new house next Friday and I promise to share some photos once we are settled. Happy Wednesday!

Portuguese Kale Soup

2011-08-08T10:27:00.000-07:00

We planted kale this year and I am amazed at how well it has coped with the heat and humidity we've had throughout the summer. It truly is a hearty crop that will feed you for a good portion of the year. But what to do with all that kale? While it can be versatile as a side dish, in salads or in soups, it has a distinctive flavor that some find too strong. Kale has awesome nutritional value so it's worth finding a way to prepare it that you enjoy.
Here's our favorite kale recipe, given to me by my mother in law. We had a little break the past few days from the heat, so I decided to prepare a big pot of soup and pretend the fall was here! My husband is from Somerset, Massachusetts, a small town with a large Portuguese population, where this soup is a staple in households. Using an authentic Portuguese sausage, or chourico, makes all the difference in the flavor. We use Gaspar's chourico from North Dartmouth - thanks to my mother and father in law for sending us 16lbs on ice out here to Nebraska!

Thawing out the chorico

Gaspar's chourico has big chunks of fat in it, but it has great flavor and is not very greasy

If you have a large kale crop consider freezing some to use this fall and winter in this soup. The spicy sausage makes it a great meal to eat any time of year and my husband even likes to eat it cold the next day.

Portuguese Kale Soup

Chicken broth - about a third of the pot, or just enough to cover the ingredients
1.5 long pieces Portuguese sausage, sliced
2 cans red kidney beans, do not drain
Bundle of fresh kale or 1 package frozen kale
2 small onions
4 small to medium potatoes peeled cut into bite sized pieces
1 small head cabbage or lettuce
Salt and pepper to taste

Cabbage stays crisp in the soup for a little crunch

Chop kale and remove thick stems. Prepare and chop potatoes, onions and cabbage into small chunks. Slice chourizo into bite sized pieces. Combine all ingredients into pot, cover with stock and bring to a boil. Turn down and simmer until the potatoes are ready (about 25 minutes).

Leftovers will freeze well, but we usually don't have any!

Happy Birthday Mr. Hank Bacon

2011-08-01T06:20:00.000-07:00

This great customer photo came to us via @HankBacon on Twitter. Mr. Hank received this bowtie as a 2nd birthday gift from his buddy @MissPishPosh. Thanks so much for sharing your crazy sweet face with us Mr. Hank!

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

2011-07-27T06:42:00.000-07:00

Bean is really excited about all the new things we have going on.

I'm back to posting after a busy three weeks that included attending an artist's residency, getting a full time teaching job and buying a house! We are having an unexpectedly busy summer full of changes but I'm very excited for what the future will bring. Here is a sneak peak of Bean and Lily's new back yard, which has a park on two sides. We'll be putting in a new fence for the puppers the week we move in so they will be able to enjoy the 14,000 square foot lot and all it's shady spots!

Teaching art is my passion, and I could not be happier to have finally found a full time job doing what I love at a great college. But don't panic about the new job, I will still be running Beantown and making sweaters and hats for your furry friends this fall. We will, however, be scaling back the amount of custom and wholesale orders we fill, and my weary hands and shoulders are looking forward to a lighter work load that focuses on quality (and fun!) instead of quantity. With all the wholesale orders we've filled this year, I was starting to feel like the sole employee in a sweat shop. I have a lot more fun creating individual items and selling them directly to customers, so my focus will shift back in that direction now that I don't have to rely on wholesale for income.

For the past two weeks I attended an artist's residency at the Kimmel Harding Nelson center for the arts in Nebraska City. KHN provides artists, writers and composers with a two to four week stay free of charge and a $100 per week stipend. It was a great opportunity to take some time for myself and my art work, and I feel like I was productive. I even had time to read a book and take a few baths!

The residency has three large private spaces for artist's to work in, so I was able to make a few large paintings and set up my still life to work from. It was a fantastic two weeks and I had a lot of fun hanging out with the other residents. There were three writers and one sculptor also at the center during my stay. I'm so happy to be back home now, I missed my husband and I really missed Bean and Lily!

Mick Jagger, Bad to the Bone

2011-07-08T07:10:00.000-07:00

Mick Jagger chewing on his nylabone in his new hat

These fantastic customer photos are from Julie in Colorado. Her two Bostons are enjoying their new Blue Blossom hat and bad to the bone felt collar art. Thanks so much Julie for sharing your cute pups with us!

This Will Make You Smile

2011-07-04T09:16:00.000-07:00

Thanks to my brother in law Don for sharing this hilarious video with me this morning via the Huffington Post. Too adorable. Have a Happy Fourth!

Happy Fourth!

2011-07-01T09:16:00.000-07:00

Bean and Lily wish you a happy and safe Fourth of July! This weekend they are looking forward to dips in their pool, frisbee in the yard and maybe finding a little bit of hotdog to eat on the sly. Hope you and your pups have lots of fun this weekend!

The Art of Online Communication

2011-06-26T06:53:00.000-07:00

In the past three years I have communicated with thousands of people online as owner of Beantown Handmade. I wrote this article for Handmadeology about what I've learned in all those interactions, and I'm archiving it here as part of my series on handmade business, aka Bean's Handmade Handbook. These are tips geared towards others who sell on Etsy, but could be applied to just about any online exchange.

this is what happens when Bean uses the computer, he spends all his time in Mac Photobooth instead of answering emails

Doing business over the Internet is liberating. Business casual takes on a whole new meaning when you are sitting at your computer in your pajamas and haven’t showered in a day or two. The Internet allows us to stay at home with our families and be flexible about business hours, while still communicating and selling to people all over the world. It’s important to remember that while we can be casual about our business, being casual about communication can cost us.

I have received over 2,000 Etsy Conversations over the last two years. That’s a lot of opportunities to make sales, and I try to make sure each response is thoughtfully constructed to reinforce confidence in my shop. Here are a few key rules I’ve developed for myself when writing to customers, potential customers, retailers or press.

Always address the customer by name if it’s given. If someone buys something from my shop I have his or her name on the receipt, so I write Dear________. It starts things off on a great personal note, and lets them know I looked took the time to notice. If I have a repeat customer, I can now tell by the lovely star Etsy includes next to their name in Sold Items – awesome! I will thank them for shopping with us again.

Return emails and conversations within 24 hours if possible. During the holiday season, this can get rough but it’s a rule I created for myself and I stick to it. I use “flag” or “mark unread” buttons on my email and Etsy Conversations to keep track of whom I have gotten back to. I also purchased a smart phone to use when we travel so I can respond to emails. Even though that makes taking a real vacation difficult, this is the kind of business I’m in.

Send a confirmation message when I receive an order. Again, when things are busy this is hard, but think about what you like when you purchase online. It’s nice to know that your money and order have been received. If there is a note to seller I confirm the order details. If they purchased a custom or made to order item I let them know when it will ship.

Reread all messages to make sure my tone is positive and happy. I have found that in almost every case, good communication at the start of a sale means very few unhappy customers or rude emails later on down the line. It’s all about setting a good tone from the get-go, and letting folks know you want to do what you can for them. As creative people and small business owners we don’t want to be a doormat for rude customers or people trying to manipulate us by withholding positive feedback, however we need to always be professional. Bad situations are usually few and far between, so I try to give customers the benefit of the doubt.

Don’t address your customers in all caps. I get emails with all caps in them from time to time, and I do sometimes feel like I’m being yelled at or talked down to. Often people are just really excited about buying their dog a hat, and that makes me feel great. Other times they want to make sure I notice a particular detail about their order, and that’s understandable. However, I prefer lower case when I communicate because I know how it feels to read all caps. When you turn off the caps lock, you soften the tone. I don’t want to threaten or scare my customers in any way.
***As a side note, this goes for item descriptions and shop announcements too. I use stars to denote important information instead of all caps. The only time I’ve resorted to the caps button was during the holiday season when hasty shoppers were missing shipping deadlines. But let’s leave it as a last resort.

Make the sale. It may feel a little sleazy, but we are salespeople and we need to hustle if we are going to make a living. When I respond to potential customers I include additional information like turnaround time so they know they will receive the item soon. Sometimes people imagine it takes me a month to crochet a sweater, and even though turnaround time is in the item description, I like to reinforce that yes, you actually will receive this handmade item in the same amount of time it would take you to order from a big box store. I also bring any special offers to their attention, and I feel that if I word it like – hey, there’s a deal I want you to be able to take advantage of to save some money – then they see me as a friend and ally (and that's more how I feel) and not a salesman.

If I want something, I offer something in return. When I receive a cut and paste email asking me for something I am less likely to respond positively than when I get an email that opens with a positive comment about my work, or even better my name (available in my profile). It’s okay to cut and paste sections of an email, but I appreciate knowing people have taken the time check out my stuff before they ask me to do a give away or advertise on their website. The best collaborations involve giving on both sides. I have had people write great things about my shop in exchange for a giveaway item, or even better they traded me additional advertising or their own product for doing a giveaway. Reciprocity is just good business.

I love communicating with people about their pets. I have many customers that I consider friends and pen pals, and that’s what makes my job so rewarding. I love customer photos and hearing about people enjoying my work, and I know good communication has led to improved sales. I even had a customer email her entire address book to tell them about my shop and how great the customer service was. That’s pretty awesome advertising. In an age of text messaging and short abrupt exchanges, a well-crafted email goes a long way to help cultivate a base of repeat customers. So even as I sit here writing back to customers in my pajamas and slippers drinking coffee, I am imagining my writing voice is wearing a power suit.

Gunner's Portrait

2011-06-25T10:07:00.000-07:00

Nora was the winner of our pet portrait giveaway, and she chose this photo of her dog Gunner for her prize. I wanted to share Gunner's finished pet portrait pendant with you. With such a great photo and cute pup to work with, it made painting this little portrait a lot of fun. Thanks to Nora and all our participants in the giveaway! We'll have another giveaway before the summer is out for a prize to be determined.

Petits Pois - French Style Peas Cooked with Herbs

2011-06-18T11:03:00.000-07:00

We had our first harvest of peas from the garden this week and I was so excited to try out a new way of preparing them. I ate a French style pea dish with lettuce at a restaurant once and wanted to create something similar at home.

Ingredients:
roughly 1.5-2 lbs of peas in the pod (this just about filled up our colander)
1 head of lettuce (I used 6-7 large leaves of lettuce trimmed from our garden)
1 vidalia onion
2tbsp butter
1.5 teaspoons sugar
1 cup water or enough to cover top of peas and lettuce in your pot
1 bouquet garni (bundle of fresh herbs)
Salt and pepper to taste

Bouquet garni is the French way of saying a bundle of herbs you bind together and cook in a pot. For my bouquet garni I used a sprig of sage, rosemary and parsley. The rosemary's flavor really dominated the broth so I wouldn't put more than one small to medium sized sprig of rosemary. If you have different herbs available you could add any combination you think you'd enjoy. Fresh herbs are really the key to this dish, so if you need to buy some at the store it's worth the investment. Bouquet garni can also be used in stocks, soups, stews and meat dishes. We usually stuff one inside of our chickens when we cook them whole.

Rinse the herbs, peas and lettuce. Prepare the peas by chopping off the top and bottom and stringing them along the side to separate the peas. Chop the lettuce into 1" strips. Bind the herbs with baker's twine to prepare your bouquet garni.

Put butter in a large saucepan. Saute with onion and add bouquet garni. Don't brown the onions, just give them a little simmer in the butter and herbs for the flavors to combine. Add sugar.

Next add a alternation layers of lettuce and peas, adding a small amount of salt and pepper to each layer of peas. Add just enough water to cover lettuce and peas. Cover and simmer on medium-low 30 minutes. Serve in a bowl with the juice - the broth is great over chicken or other veggies.

This is my favorite pea dish I've tried, and you could also try with frozen or canned peas if you don't have fresh on hand. The fresh peas are very sweet and hold up nicely to the cooking if you cook them right after picking, so even if you don't love peas you may enjoy this sweet and savory dish.

Lydia's New Hat

2011-06-17T06:47:00.000-07:00

In the summer months I don't get as many customer photos, so this one was especially delightful to see in my inbox this week! Thanks so much to Jenn for sharing this image of her Boston Terrier Lydia in her new hat. Jenn says Lydia gets excited when the hat comes out, which means she's probably getting a lot of positive attention when she has it on. What a sweetheart! The Blue Blossom hat is still on sale here in our shop, and is also now available as a photographic print.

The Gift of Time

2011-06-16T13:23:00.000-07:00

Summer means we all have a little more time in our house, so naturally we are all busy creating projects to fill that time. The weeks are already flying by and my goal is to not start more than I finish this year. I need to finish the quilt I started last summer and the yarn wrapped wreath that's been sitting in my studio since last November. I have so many recipes I'd love to try. Too much to fit into just one summer. I'll be sure to post pictures of my projects if (when!) I finish.

We've spent lots of time on the garden already this year, and we harvested our first peas today. The lilies are blooming and we have a jumbo pink banana squash plant that's looking like something from Little Shop of Horrors. Black beans and kohlrabi are getting big and are a fun addition to our crop this year.

Bean's working on his fly hunting skills again this season. He has gotten very good at sneaking up on the pesky little guys. This is his favorite sun spot on the back of our sofa. He spends a little time in each window throughout the day, searching for prey. Lily is pretty indifferent to the flies, and enjoys spending as much time out in the yard and in the kiddie pool as possible.

Summer also means lots of time in the studio for Michael and me. He's in the middle of finishing a commissioned animation about trains. I'm working on creating a series of larger paintings and a new animation as well. I work in such a small space there's not much room to paint large, and the only spot to store my paintings is on the floor. Luckily, aside from a small mishap with a tennis ball, the dogs have been pretty careful around the paintings. This one isn't finished, and Lily has her eye on it. I think she's more of a formalist.

I'm continuing to work on our shop inventory and my goal is to crochet a sweater a day this summer! Hopefully I'll get at least part of the way to my goal and there will be lots of ready to ship sweater colors and sizes on our website to choose from in the fall. It's always strange to spend so much time crocheting when it's so hot out! Hope you have all had a great start to your summer, and I'd love to hear what projects you have going on.

Photo Prints Are Here!

2011-06-15T10:08:00.000-07:00

Your favorite Bean shots are now available as high quality photographic prints on our website and on Etsy. Prints now in stock include Bean in a top hat, Bean in a big red tie, and old favorites like Bean in the Gretel hat and Treehugger Headhugger Hat. The Treehugger hat was created for Garth Johnson's book 1000 Ideas for Creative Reuse, and was never available for purchase because it was too impractical. The top hat, bow tie and other hats featured in these photos are also all for sale, so if you'd like to create your own portrait shots you can find them here on our website. All prints are processed on Kodak Supra Endura Silver Halide Professional Photographic Paper in a lustre finish, making the color as beautiful as the print is long lasting. Larger prints with glossy, matte or canvas finish are also available upon request.

And of course we couldn't leave out our most popular image, Bean in his Blue Blossom Hat. He was just six months old when we took this shot in our basement. Now you can have the little man in your home, gazing optimistically into the future.

Happy Birthday Bean!

2011-06-13T07:18:00.000-07:00

Bean had his third birthday over the weekend - can't believe our little guy is growing up so fast! I wanted to share some photos with you of Bean as he's grown.

Bean is my first dog. My dad and sister are both allergic, so as a kid my only pet was a parakeet I creatively named Perry. Perry didn't do much, so you can image the love and excitement built up over my lifetime that was showered on puppy Bean. My husband Michael gave me Bean for my birthday right after our wedding. Bean was born the week we got married so he's the exact age of our marriage. We got Bean from a reputable breeder in western Nebraska who is now retired (we get asked this a lot!). Bean is also neutered, so alas, there will be no little Beans (we get asked this a lot too!).

We lived in an apartment for the first two weeks we had Bean. We had a house lined up but I couldn't wait for the house to bring Bean home. He tortured our neighbors with insane high pitched vocals every time we left for those two weeks, so as a result he didn't get left home much. And so Bean learned from a very young age he had us wrapped around his finger.

It's amazing to me that there are thousands of people in the world who know about my dog. He certainly hasn't let it go to his head, as he sits here and licks his own behind in the sun spot in my studio. Most of you know Bean is kind of serious. He's very statuesque. When he was a puppy he would sit on my foot as I did the dishes. In between running and playing, he would sit and stare at us a lot as we watched television or worked in our studios, his tiny butt sliding back on the hardwood floor. These are things I now know to be very un-puppylike, but are very much Bean qualities.

Here are some things you might not know about Bean. He needs toys to be activated. He will bring over a toy before playing with it and want us to throw it once or twice, then he'll go chew on it. He is afraid of the wind but not thunderstorms. He is not a fan of new people, especially men. We know he's never had a traumatic event with anyone, he's just always been selective about who enters his circle of trust. Bean is very eager to please, and wants us to know he's a good boy. If I tell Lily to go in her house (kennel), Bean will usually go in too just to show us he knows what it means. If our neighbor dogs charge the fence, Bean will jump at the back door to come inside because he knows we don't want him barking. We are so lucky to have such a good natured, smart and sweet boy in our lives. Bean has changed my life and our little family in so many ways. Happy Birthday Beany Bear!

Happy International Yarn Bombing Day!

2011-06-11T04:56:00.000-07:00

I am up early this morning because I went and photographed a small group of college students, faculty and friends as they covered a downtown street in pieces of knit and crochet. Yarn bombing is a form of soft, temporary graffiti that has become popular worldwide. Started by Canadian Joann Matvichuk, IYBD is an effort towards a global collaboration to brighten the urban landscape and raise awareness about fiber arts.

crocheted manhole cover cover

Our little group was only organized about a week ago and many of the participants just learned to knit and crochet, so I think what they were able to pull off was pretty impressive. Parking meters, light posts, benches and a manhole cover in Lincoln's historic Haymarket will be a little brighter this morning during the farmer's market.

I created this fishing net and fish. Did you know the circumference of a parking meter is 17"? I didn't either until this week. Check out the IYBD Flickr pool here for more incredible examples of yarn bombing around the world. Knitting and crocheting for a public space is a really fun and unique challenge and I encourage you to take it on!
Read more about guerrilla knitting, yarn bombing and International Yarn Bombing Day in my article for Handmadeology.

and the winner is...!

2011-06-10T06:25:00.000-07:00

We had over 40 entries for our pet portrait giveaway from Twitter, Facebook and here on the blog! Thanks so much to those who participated - I enjoyed seeing your photos so much this week. We assigned each entry a number and used a random number generator to draw the winner. So without further adieu, the winner of a custom portrait pendant is Nora Ham! Her number was selected for this adorable photo of her Boston Terrier Gunner.

We'll be doing another giveaway late this summer so check back in for another chance to win some Beantown goodies!

Pet Portrait Giveaway!

2011-06-06T11:27:00.000-07:00

It's time for another giveaway, and this time you have a chance to win a custom pet portrait pendant! These small portraits can be worn as a necklace pendant or hung and enjoyed as a miniature piece of art. They are also very popular during the holiday season as ornaments. Great as a gift or for yourself to immortalize the furry love in your life.

Here's how to enter:

Submit a link to a picture of your pet or pets below that you think would make a great portrait pendant. You can also enter by submitting a link in a comment on facebook, or posting the picture directly to our facebook page wall. Tweet us the photo for yet another chance to win. Finally, follow us on Facebook, Twitter and here on the blog and write this in your comment for even more chances to win. Please submit your photo link and all additional entries in just one comment if you are posting on the blog.

I'll share a few photos submitted by contestants each day this week on our blog and Facebook.

Contest ends Thurs evening at midnight. I'll choose the winner by assigning entrants a number and using a random number generator. Winner will be announced Friday morning June 10th and will receive a pet portrait pendant hand painted by me with their pet's photo. Prize includes cost of domestic or international shipping. If you would prefer not to link to a photo of your pet, you are welcome to just leave a comment requesting a prize entry. You may submit links to more than one pet, but only one will be featured on the pendant and you'll just receive on entry for the links. Thanks!

Best of luck!

Asparagus and Cherry Tomato Pizza With Rosemary Crust

2011-06-04T11:43:00.000-07:00

Two years ago we purchased one cherry tomato plant from our local farmer's market, and it has now turned into hundreds of volunteer tomato plants scattered throughout our yard and flower beds. My mistake was mixing in tomatoes and tomato seeds into our compost and then spreading the compost throughout the yard the following season. The compost has been great for our plants, and - bonus! - it's led to lots of delicious little cherry tomatoes. Cherry tomatoes are great off the vine and in salads, but can be difficult to use like traditional tomatoes because of their small size. Pizzas have been a good solution to my tiny tomato surplus. Here's my favorite garden pizza recipe I've come up with so far.

Ingredients:
1 package pizza dough, or unbaked pizza crust
1.5 cups chopped asparagus
1.5 cups halved cherry tomatoes
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1/2 teaspoon dried rosemary, or a sprig of fresh
3 tablespoons olive oil, plus a drizzle for asparagus
1/4 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
salt and pepper to taste
flour
cornmeal

Preheat oven to 425. If using Trader Joe's pizza crust, you need to leave it out of the refrigerator for 20 minutes before handling, so this would be a good time to take it out and sit it on the counter.
Rinse and chop the asparagus, tomatoes and garlic. Place in roasting pan and drizzle with small amount of olive oil and sprinkle of sea salt. Toss to cover all veggies with oil and salt. Roast for 6-8 minutes.

Mix together olive oil, balsamic vinegar, rosemary, sea salt and fresh cracked pepper in a small bowl. Set mixture aside.

Roll out pizza dough on a lightly floured surface. I use my wooden cutting board and lightly cover it with flour. Put a little flour on the dough and roll out using a rolling pin. Try to keep the dough a consistent thickness throughout. Mine never end up a perfect circle but I'm okay with that!

Put a sprinkling of cornmeal on cookie sheet or pizza stone. My husband gave me a pizza stone this week for our anniversary so this was it's maiden voyage. It really cooked the crust beautifully and evenly. I was pleased. The dough is pretty resilient, so I just picked it up in two places on one side and quickly flop it onto the stone.

Using a brush, coat crust with olive oil mixture. This takes the place of sauce so you can either add it up to 1/2" of outer edge or over the entire crust. Add more rosemary or balsamic to suit your taste. Top with roasted vegetables and mozzarella and bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until crust is golden brown. Take it out, slice it up and enjoy!

Great Big Craft Show Checklist

2011-06-02T07:03:00.000-07:00

Craft show customer trying on his Great Pumpkin dog hat

I wrote this post for Handmadeology and wanted to archive it here in Bean's Handmade Handbook. This list will help provide a framework of possible items to take with you to your first craft show. If you are a seasoned fair-goer it can be a checklist to use as you pack!

Every product provides a unique challenge for display and packaging, and creating a mock up at home is a great way to test drive your booth display and plan ahead. Checking out online photo galleries of craft show booths is also a good way to get some ideas and visualize what you'll need to succeed.

Tools:
Scissors
Pens
Clear tape - scotch, masking, packing and maybe duct tape too
String
Safety pins
Push pins and tacks
Paper clips
Clothespins
Super glue
Hot glue gun
Zip ties
Pliers
Screwdriver
Wire cutters
Hammer (if you will need to stake the tent on grass)
Water jugs, cinder blocks or tent weights - stakes if you are on grass
Dustpan
Trash bags
Tools of your trade to demonstrate your craft
Camera
Tupperware containers to transport materials to show
Dolly to carry your supplies to your booth
Water
Snacks
Sunblock
Directions/contact info for the show
Apron
Candy dish
Pocket mirror
Breath mints
First aid kit
A friend - if you don't want to leave your booth unattended while you go to the bathroom (you'll have to eventually!), bring a friend

Booth Decoration and Shop Information:
Signs
Brochures, catalog, free literature (optional)
Business cards (a must)
Discount coupons for your website
Portfolio (optional, great to show people who might want a custom item or to a potential wholesale client)
Mailing List
Table cloths
Additional fabric draping
Risers
Baskets
Shelving
Pegboard
Chair or stool
Backdrop
Banner
Lighting (if an option)
Mirror
Carpet or floor covering (this is also optional)

Packaging:
Bags with your shop's name on them - we print our logo on stickers
Tissue or butcher paper for fragile items
Gift wrap
Ribbon

Finance:
Signs with prices or
Individually price each item using hang tags or stickers
Calculator!!!
Cash box with change - ones, fives, tens and coins
Square or other credit card reader for your phone
and/or
Knuckle buster and imprinter slips
Wholesale Order forms
Receipt book
List of inventory to mark off your sales
Sales tax chart
A copy of your sales tax certificate
Notebook to keep track of your expenses during the trip - mileage, hotel, etc.
Clipboard (for customers who want to write checks, fill out a custom order or need to sign cc slips)

Don't forget to bring your smile and interact with potential customers. Most importantly, bring lots of inventory!

Craft Apron Tutorial

2011-05-31T10:36:00.000-07:00

I have been on the search for a good craft show apron design for awhile now. It's nice to have something to hold your calculator, scissors, phone, pens and other items you want to have on hand while vending, and I wanted something handmade that matched by booth design. I finally found a quick and easy method of creating a tool belt style apron and gave it a shot! Design Sponge published this tutorial last week for a gardening apron, and I loved the poster's logic for creating pockets and attaching the apron tie in such a simple, clever way. Using their construction methods and a few modifications, I created my own pattern for this craft apron and took some step by step photos to share with you along the way.

Materials:

1/2 yard durable fabric (cotton canvas or denim work well)
1 yard complementary fabric
I used 1/2 denim and 1 yard quilter's weight cotton for the pockets, apron backing and tie
optional: iron-on Quick Fuse fabric sheets for ink jet printers

I wanted an apron that would look a little like a miniskirt, so I chose a width that wrapped further around my sides and didn't hang too long. I settled on a base piece of denim that was 13" x 22". I then measured how high I wanted the pockets to go on the apron - about 8". The pocket piece gets folded in half and stitched to the base piece so there is fabric on the inside and outside of the pockets. Really easy! I'll explain the apron construction step by step below.

1. Cut all four pieces you will need for the apron: one 13" x 22" of denim or other durable fabric, one 13" x 22" cotton fabric, one 16" x 22" piece of cotton fabric for pocket, and one 5" x 60" piece for tie (you can also piece two strips together if you don't have this long a piece). I used a .5" seam allowance. Press all fabric pieces with an iron before sewing

2. Line up the two 13" x 22" pieces and lay right sides together. Fold in half and measure and cut the curves to create the rounded apron bottom. You can also leave them square for a basic rectangular shape.

3. Fold the long strip for the apron tie in half with right sides facing and press

4. Measure and place a pin 20" from each end of the strip. You will leave this open and slide the apron inside to attach the tie to the apron.

5. Sew the tie with right sides facing. I angled the ends to give it a little style, but you could leave them square as well. Sew to the pin and back stitch. Go to opposite end and sew to the pin and back stitch.

6. Turn apron tie right side out. I used a knitting needle to help push the fabric tube right side out.

7. With ride side out, fold pocket piece in half and pin to the face of your denim fabric with bottom sides flush. Measure and pin where you would like your pockets. Sew a straight line to create a pocket division and back stitch at the top to secure the two pieces of fabric.

8. Place the two 13" x 22" pieces of fabric with right sights facing one another. Sew all the way around leaving a 4" gap to turn the pieces right side out.

9. Place the apron body right side out into the opening in the apron tie. Fold under the excess fabric on both sides of the tie to hide the raw edge. Pin into place.

10. Leaving 1/8" seam allowance, top stitch the apron tie on all four sides, stitching the apron tie to the apron body as you go.

I added a red bias tape strip around my apron to give it a little punch. I also printed out an image of Bean and Lily onto Quick Fuse fabric sheets. These sheets are iron-on and will print using your home printer. I cut out the image and ironed it onto the apron to make it look like Bean and Lily were hanging out in my pocket.

Creating an apron for craft shows is a great way to let customers know you're the booth owner, and it's also handy for keeping your materials and money close by. See my great big craft show prep list here on Handmadeology.

Craft tutorials are for personal use only. All tutorial content and photos are copyright of Beantown Handmade. Please do not reproduce without permission. Thanks!

Garden Update

2011-05-26T07:43:00.000-07:00

We have had a lot of rain in the past week, and then a few hot sunny days so everything in the garden is going crazy (including the weeds!). Early this week we put the last of our seedlings in the ground. They were growing in the basement under a grow light. This was our first year trying this method and it was really successful. All of our seedlings came up and grew strong. We used a 36" fluorescent shop light with daylight fluorescent bulbs. My husband was already using these in his painting studio so it was free for us, but you can purchase these at a hardware store for $20-30. Our electricity bill was not outrageous either and we left it on 18 hours a day.

Seedlings learning to be outside by sitting in the shade on the porch for a few days

I took this photo just a few days ago (before all the rain) so now these are twice the size!

It was warm enough last week to break out Bean and Lily's kiddie pool, it was as good as they remembered

Here is what we have in the ground right now:
Basil
Rosemary
Dill
Chives
Cilantro
Sage
Parsley
Garlic
Jericho lettuce
Dwarf Blue Curled Scotch kale
Bloomsdale Long-Standing spinach
Yellow Bush Scallop squash
Pink Banana Jumbo squash (these should be fun!)
Straight Eight cucumber
Early White Vienna kohlrabi
Peas
Forest Fire Tomato
Cherry Tomato
Brandywine Tomato
Anaheim pepper
Jalapeno pepper

We ordered our seeds this year from the Sustainable Seed Co. and each and every one came up looking great so I would highly recommend them as a source of great organic seeds.

Our friend Wendy is a fiber artist and she gave us a few plants from her dye garden this week, including monster sunflowers and some St John's Wort. I'm looking forward to the sunflowers! I found some strange plants in the compost this week and discovered they were potatoes! We left for vacation a few months ago and a pack of tiny potatoes from Trader Joe's went bad. I put them in the compost and now we have a lot of potato plants. I planted them in the side yard to see what they do. We will most likely not eat them, but free plants always excite me!

Bean and Lily's Big Adventure: Part Five

2011-05-24T10:56:00.000-07:00

Wind River Canyon, a little overcast but spectacular

On our way back through Wyoming we took Highway 20 through the beautiful interior of the state. The road goes through Wyoming's newest national scenic byway, the Wind River Canyon, which is a part of the Wind River Indian Reservation. The drive goes down through the bottom of the 2500 foot deep canyon, alongside the Wind River. The dramatic pink and black rock cliffs along the side of the canyon are Precambrian rock, which makes them about 2.9 billion years old. There are small signs by the road that point out this kind of information. It was spectacular. We saw a sign offering white water rafting and fly fishing, so we may need to go back to enjoy it some more! The town of Thermopolis, home of the world's largest hot springs, is just on the other side of the canyon. We were very tempted to stop and spend the night dipping in a hot spring, but the weather was wet and we had a long way to go to make it back to Nebraska the next day. We've lived in Nebraska for six years and had never seen Chimney Rock until this trip. It's just a short way off of highway 92 so we drove out and took a few pictures. It was raining, so the shots aren't great. Chimney Rock is a tall rock formation that was created when a part of a bluff broke off and remained free standing. The rock is famous as a landmark along the Oregon Trail, and about a half a million people between 1821-1866 passed by it on their way out to Oregon, Utah and California. We saw a part of the original Oregon Trail just to the north of Chimney Rock.

Chimney Rock

Just after Chimney Rock we saw a roadrunner, and true to their cartoon counterpart, it was so fast we couldn't take a photo. Here's a picture of a male Great Roadrunner, which is the type we saw in south central Nebraska. The males have a red patch on their head, which is what I remember seeing as it ran swiftly across the road. Beep Beep!

Male Greater Roadrunner

Our last stop was in North Platte, where we visited the Golden Spike Tower and visitor center. This rail yard for the Union Pacific is the world's largest and handles about 10,000 cars every 24 hours. The tower overlooks some 9 miles filled with trains. Michael is working on an animation about trains so he took a lot of photos, including this one.

View from Golden Spike Tower in North Platte, NE

We had a fantastic trip and arrived back home in time for me to get a couple of loads of laundry in the wash and take the pups for a walk. You can see our photo album from the trip here on Flickr and several videos from the trip on our YouTube channel.

Bean and Lily's Big Adventure: Part Four

2011-05-20T08:40:00.000-07:00

After spending four fantastic days with friends in Oregon, we piled back into the car and headed northeast. Our return trip took us through eastern Washington and northern Idaho. It was really great to see new things and even though the northern route took a bit longer, it was well worth it.


Coeur D'Alene, Idaho

We have a friend who lives in Montana, so we made our goal to make it out there for day one of our return trip. It was a long hike through more mountains, and we had quite a bit of rain that turned into snow as we went up in elevation. There was a lot of white knuckle driving, but we made it Bozeman before the sun went down and ate a delicious dinner with our friend Chris. The next morning the weather was not looking great for our trip to Yellowstone. It was about 32 degrees and a light snow/rain mix was coming down (in May!). I was really bummed, and our trip out to the western entrance was a little dicey and wet. Almost like magic, as we approached the gate to Yellowstone the sun came out and the snow and rain stopped. We saw a baby bison on the road in, the first of about a hundred we saw that day.

Lily was very curious about the bison, Bean was a little afraid. They were very large and did not hesitate to come right to the car.

Yellowstone is a spectacular place, with so many changes in scenery

The dogs were not allowed on the trails in Yellowstone ( with good reason). So after they had a bathroom break and a little exercise, they spent most of the day in the car as we drove through the park and made short stops to take pictures. We saw the geysers and paint pots, canyon and waterfall, and Yellowstone lake. The southern part of the park was still closed due to heavy snow.

Old Faithful, we did not see it go off and after waiting 20 minutes in the cold it started to snow so we packed it in

Totally spectacular, and the sound was beautiful too

We saw a lot of animals in and around Yellowstone. In addition to the many bison, there were elk, deer, bighorn sheep, and we even saw a grizzly bear (from far away).

zoom lens, we were across a river and up a hill from this grizzly and that is as close as I ever need to be to one in the wild

We were told on our way into the park that the east entrance was closed due to an avalanche. That meant we would have to go back out the northwest entrance after seeing the park, instead of heading east towards home. Fortunately, about 30 minutes before we were going to leave the east entrance opened. We were told there would be more avalanches over the next few days and we should go sooner than later. There was a lot of snow on either side of the road, as much as 15 feet in some places.


Avalanche zone, east entrance to Yellowstone

Yellowstone is a magical place and I can't wait to go back and stay in the park. In my next and last installment about our trip I'll write about our trip through Wyoming and the Wind River Canyon, on to Chimney Rock in western Nebraska, and our stop at the largest train yard in the world.

Bean and Lily's Big Adventure: Part Three

2011-05-18T17:21:00.000-07:00

Bruno and Homer

Homer

After our three day journey we arrived in Salem, Oregon where we visited with friends. Bean was reunited with his long lost buds Bruno and Homer. Lily did her best to be a good guest, gently sampling every tennis ball in the house.

Saturday May 7th we set up shop at Crafty Wonderland in the Oregon Convention Center and enjoyed spending the day meeting a few Beantown fans and introducing our products to a new audience. It was the first indoor fair we've participated in and we were glad because folks aren't kidding about the rain in Portland! There was a lot of it. I was amazed by how few people walked around with umbrellas and just got wet. I'm happy to know there will now be a few Portland pups kept warm and dry in the rain by Beantown sweaters, hats and neck warmers.
We ate several amazing meals in Portland, and the most notable was at Produce Row. Michael really had a great time trying out several whiskey and beer pairings there, and I enjoyed a Strongbow cider (a favorite from when I studied abroad in Perth, Australia).

The next day we headed out to the Oregon coast. The pups took a nice long romp on the beach and we had perfect sunshine all morning.

Pacfic City pups

For lunch, we had another fantastic meal at the Pelican Brewery in Pacific City and even saw a whale while eating outside on the patio.

After lunch we took the pups for one more stop along the coast. We came across this beautiful beach filled with drift wood. Bean ran into the water and was surprised by a little (and probably very cold) wave. He popped out and rolled in the sand to dry off, then immediately regretted it. For a dog, Bean doesn't like being messy much, but he had a blast and the rest of us did too.

This beach was a short drive from Pacific City, but we didn't see a sign with the name

Bean trying to dry himself in the sand

Bean and Lily loved the beach and after a warm bath that night, they slept for about 16 hours. In my next post I'll write about our trip to Yellowstone, where Bean and Lily saw bison, elk, deer, rams, and even a grizzly bear.

Bean and Lily's Big Adventure: Part Two

2011-05-15T08:03:00.000-07:00

Did you know that Idaho is home to the largest sand dune in the Western Hemisphere? Neither did we! While driving through Southern Idaho and exploring potential sight seeing on my phone I came across Bruneau Dunes State Park and we decided we needed to check out these giant sand dunes in the middle of farm country.

Bruneau Dunes State Park, Idaho

The tallest of the three dunes is 470 feet, and it's difficult to get a feel for how enormous they are in the pictures. We were told by the guide at the center that the sand dunes were deposited by a catastrophic flood 15,000 years ago. When the waters receded, the dunes were left behind. Bean raced up and down the smallest of the sand dunes like a maniac, he had such a good time. Lily was cautious but she made it to the top!

The dunes were steep and I got a little vertigo so I decided to slide down from the top on my butt.

After our trip to the dunes we hoofed it all the way into western Oregon and spent the night in Baker City. The dogs were pretty dirty and totally exhausted from all their adventures so after a bath they slept for about 12 hours.

Western Oregon, where the mountains met the fields

The dogs did wake up briefly to check out the prairie dogs outside our window. Bean wanted to eat them for dinner!

Little prairie dogs outside our window in Baker City, Oregon

Tomorrow I'll post about our trip to the Oregon Coast and to Portland for Crafty Wonderland.

Bean and Lily's Big Adventure: Part One

2011-05-14T06:36:00.000-07:00

Last week we embarked on our north western road trip and we all had a fantastic time. Here's the route we took for our big trip - 6 states in 11 days ending in Salem, Oregon to visit friends with a quick side trip to Portland for Crafty Wonderland.

The first day of our trip we steamed out to Ogden, Utah and drove 12 hours through a very flat Nebraska and then the hills and mountains of Wyoming. It was amazing to watch the landscape slowly and then dramatically change. You just can't see that from an airplane.

Lily taking a potty break near Elk Mountain, Wyoming

The second morning we woke up early and drove out to Robert Smithson's Spiral Jetty, a famous earthwork sculpture in the Great Salt Lake. Being artists and having taken many art history courses, it was nice for Michael and I to finally see this famous artwork in person. The piece was pretty cool, but the view was the most amazing part.

someone made a mini spiral jetty, here's Bean checking it out and taking a dip in Great Salt Lake

Spiral Jetty was created in 1970 using basalt rock and earth, and the coil stretches 1500 feet into the Great Salt Lake. It is only visible at certain times of year when the water level is right. The piece is now owned by the Dia Art Foundation, and best of all it's free to see. The trip out to the jetty is about a 20 minute drive on a gravel road through a few ranches. We had to stop for a few cows on the road and the scenery the whole way was spectacular.

Michael hiked out to the end of Spiral Jetty

Lily and Bean both went in the water. Lily took a huge gulp and spat it right back out, then threw up her breakfast on the jetty. Sorry Mr Smithson. The dogs had a great time running around and it was about 50 degrees, the perfect temperature for a little hike.

Bean admire the Jupiter, Golden Spike National Historic Site, Utah

The Golden Spike National Historic Site is on the same road that goes out to Spiral Jetty so we checked it out on our return. The Golden Spike marks the spot where the Union and Central Pacific railroads met in 1869, marking the completion of the transcontinental railroad. Michael is working on an animation about the history of the transcontinental railroad so it was the perfect opportunity to get some photos and video of the real deal trains in action. The site has full scale working models of the Jupiter and the 119 that met there in the original Golden Spike ceremony. Bean and Lily were not sure what they thought about the trains.

Tomorrow I'll write about our trip through Idaho where we saw the largest sand dune in North America (in Idaho! crazy, right?) Bean and Lily climbed a small sand dune and were totally tuckered out for the rest of the day. I got some great shots! Over the next few days I'll write about our trip to the Oregon coast, Portland and finally to Yellowstone. We even got a little video of Bean and Lily watching bison.

Two More of Our Kid's Crafts for Pets Ideas

2011-05-13T12:34:00.000-07:00

Here are the last two of those kid's crafts for pets ideas we mentioned last month.

I remember loving shrinky dinks when I was a kid, and here is a great way your kids can create their own unique tag for your new pup. It could be an ID tag, or just an animal or fun shape to decorate the collar. We used colored pencils to decorate the tag, and you can just follow package instructions to heat the shrinky dinks in the oven and watch them become 1/3rd their size! The circle we started with was three inches in diameter for a tag roughly 1.25" wide. A regular hole punch will work just great to create the hole before you put it in the oven, then it will shrink to the size you see below. Use a small jump ring to attach the tag to your pet's ID collar.

Puppies are really messy eaters! A puppy placement is a great way to teach children about the responsibility of feeding their new pup. Create a shape with chipboard, poster board or cardboard for the placement base. Then glue pieces of fabric and paper or create your own drawing. We used chipboard in the shape of a bone for backing and then covered both sides with contact paper. Make sure the contact paper meets all the way around and has a little border around the shape so it will stay sealed and stand up to messy doggie spills.

Craft tutorials are for personal use only. All tutorial content and photos are copyright of Beantown Handmade. Please do not reproduce without permission. Thanks!

Giveaway Alert!

2011-05-02T15:10:00.000-07:00

Talented Southern Florida pet photographer Emilee Fuss is giving away a $50 Beantown gift certificate this week as a part of a HUGE Pet Photo Session Sweepstakes on her blog. The $475 prize includes a photo session, 16" x 24" wall print, $50 gift certificate to Pawprint Essentials and $50 gift certificate to our shop. What an awesome prize! If you live even remotely in the area you should take advantage of the opportunity to work with Emilee, and no matter where you are you should take a look at her adorable pet photos. Enter the giveaway and check out more of her beautiful work.

Road Trip!

2011-05-01T08:49:00.000-07:00

We are off this week on a road trip to Portland, where we'll be a vendor at Craft Wonderland this coming Saturday May 7th. Crafty Wonderland is one of the country's largest indie craft fairs and we are really excited to be a part of this great event! It will be at the Oregon Convention Center, 777 NE MLK Jr Blvd Exhibit Hall D from 11am-6pm. We will be located in booth #75. We are packing up the car and taking Lily and Bean with us this Tuesday and we'll return Thursday May 12th. All orders placed from the 3rd to the 12th of May will ship when we return. If you are in the area we'd love for you to come out and meet us in person! We will have lots of inventory there and we'll be taking custom orders at the show as well.

Bruno, mighty Chihuahua mystery mix

Bean is excited to be reunited with his buddy and former Beantown model Bruno. He moved out to Oregon with his mom and dad, our friends Erika and Brett, two years ago.

We're excited to stay with them and visit. On our road trip we'll also be making stops in Montana and we're taking a trip to Yellowstone so we'll be sure to post some pictures of Bean and Lily's big adventure! Have a wonderful week,
Michael, Anne, Bean and Lily

Studio Companions - Sarah, Ichabod, Bailey and Pearl

2011-04-26T19:31:00.000-07:00

Sarah, Ichabod and Eve

I'm very excited to introduce you to another talented artist this week who is also a great friend. Sarah Barnard-Blitz is a ceramic artist from upstate New York, and we met her and her husband Jacob while attending the MFA graduate program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. When my husband Michael and I first got married we babysat for Sarah and Jacob's Boston Terrier, Ichabod, and we became so attached we decided we needed a Boston to call our own. Just a few months later we welcomed our guy Bean into our family. Sarah and her husband have recently moved back to upstate New York and welcomed a beautiful new human addition into their family, Evelyn Moon.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your pets.
I live in a cozy cottage in upstate NY with my husband, 3 month old baby girl, 2 Himalayan cats, and Boston Terrier. The pets have always been like our children and still are now that we've added a human child to the mix! Our cats are littermates, one boy and one girl, and I firmly believe the male, Bailey, is the reincarnation of a cat I had growing up. That cat taught me life lessons about death, not to be scared of it, and what I believe about it. These ideas do play a role in my work.

Bailey

Pearl

What kind of creative work do you make? What current or recent projects are going on in your studio?
Manipulated natural imagery is the language I use sculpturally to convey meaning. I believe fairy tales and other stories can be metaphors for the path each of us walks through life. I see my work as something of a visual tale in this way.

The Heart of the Matter

3-Burst

I've also always been interested in the importance of beauty in our daily lives. Currently I've been working on porcelain knobs. I started with a design for a dresser that had been mine as a baby and has now been redesigned for my baby girl!

How does your pet contribute to your studio practice?
They contribute to my overall mental health and well-being!

Has your pet influenced your artwork in any way? Have you ever created artwork about your pet or an experience you had with your pet?

The inspiration for my piece, "Guardians," was triggered by my cats.

Guardians

One night as I walked up the stairs, my cats sat on each side of the stair on the top landing looking at me. That's when I saw the piece, and began to think about the significance of guardian pieces in various cultures, and how well it fit with the basic ideas in my work. I had pictures of them up in my studio when making the piece for the overall basic shape.

Guardians

What do you think leads so many creative people to have close relationships with animals?
Perhaps, the thinking about and examining life that is the nature of the artist requires a less serious side... or a reminder to have a less serious side! My dog Ichabod is great at making me smile!

You can see more of Sarah's work on her website. In the near future Sarah plans on creating more porcelain knobs and selling them on Etsy, so we will definitely keep you posted when that happens! Sarah also made me beautiful porcelain stephanotis flowers for my wedding bouquet, and I wanted to include a picture here as well. The porcelain flowers are now hanging on the wall in our living room and they are a lovely and special reminder of our wedding every day. I'll be writing about Sarah's flowers and the other handmade touches we had at our wedding in a post this week on Handmadeology.

Sarah made this entire wedding dress out of individually crafted porcelain stephanotis flowers.

Ichabod taught Bean what being a Boston Terrier was all about

Kid's Crafts for Dogs Tutorial #2: Upcycled T Shirt Leash

2011-04-23T08:25:00.000-07:00

Help your kids get involved with one of the most important responsibilities of pet ownership - regular exercise! This soft leash is created with recycled strips of tshirts, and will provide kids with their own shorter leash to use when walking the dog. This fabric leash is soft on smaller hands but strong enough to hold a pulling pup.

Materials:

2-3 old tshirts, cut into strips between 3 and 5 feet long

1 metal leash clip in the size of your choice - we used a 1.5" swivel clip

1. Cut the tshirts into strips using a zig zag pattern so you create one long continuous piece of fabric. Create three strips between 3-5’ depending on the size of the child and the size of your puppy.

2. Gather the strips together and tie around a door knob with a double knot, pulling each individual strip to tighten .

3. Using the door knob to hold the fabric in place, braid the three tshirt strips together.

4. When you reach the end of the braid, thread one of the strips through the metal ring on the leash loop and knot. The jersey fabric is stretchy so if you pull each individual strip tightly and double knot, it provides a very tight hold. Trim excess fabric. To further reinforce the leash you may choose to hand or machine stitch the base of the hand loop and the base of the leash loop for added strength - depends on how much of a puller your new puppy is! I found the more Bean pulled, the tighter the knots got holding the leash loop and hand loop in place.

Studio Companions - Xanthe, Liew and Dally

2011-04-18T20:03:00.000-07:00

I'm very excited to introduce a brand new series on Bean's Blog, Studio Companions, where artists talk about the animals that share in their lives and studios. I know many wonderful artists, and most of them share my love of animals. This is a chance for me to share their creative work and adorable pets with those I know will truly appreciate them. I'm pleased to introduce you first to our good friend Xanthe, a ceramic artist who lives with her husband Liew in Canada. You may recognize their beautiful dog Dally, who is a friend and playmate of Bean.

My name is Xanthe Isbister and I live in Medicine Hat Alberta. It is called the Badlands of Canada, with rolling hills and valley’s. I am currently a artist in residence at the Medalta International Artist in Residence. My husband, Koi Neng Liew who is also an artist has a studio here as well. Before moving to Medicine Hat we had the opportunity to live in Roswell New Mexico in 2008. While we were there, a 6 month old 60 lb puppy came trotting along into our friends yard on Christmas Eve.

We were actually out of the country in Canada, but when we returned a few days later we met this wonderful pup. Our friends were unable to keep Dally, and thought we may be interested in adopting him. He is a mixed breed, most likely Pitbull or American bull dog crossed with lab or mastiff, so if someone was not going to adopt him, he would have been put down due to his mix and the over crowded pound.

He was a handful at first, but he responded well to training, and we continue to keep up with our routine, 2 walks a day, running in the baseball diamond and playing with his stuffed pig Mr. Piggles. He has a very sensitive system, and had allergy problems for the first six months we had him. We tried everything, working with the Vet, but in the end putting him on an allergy formula all natural fish and sweet potato dog food was what cured his itching, scratching and hair loss.
Dally loves to cuddle, and loves to play with dad more then mom. Dad is a bit more wild! He loves to chase squirrels that run along the fence, dig holes to lay in and most importantly sleep.

Since we are currently in a communal studio, animals are not aloud, which we are not used to, since we have always been able to have him at the studio with us, he goes where we go. He loves people, especially girls, and love to sleep and fart under my computer desk. He doesn’t necessarily have an affect on my creativity in the studio, but Liew has been inspired, creating a variety of dog sculptures, recently a replica of Dally’s head for my parents Christmas gift. He has a great impact our well being in general. We always look forward to seeing him and being with him. He gives us so much love, and has the most handsome face any dog could ever ask for. Thank you Anne for including me in the Studio Companions Blog feature on Beantown Handmade!

Xanthe's newest work, created at Medalta International Artists In Residence Program

Constructing Entropy


Disengage

Althabaska Series

See more of Xanthe's beautiful work here on her website, and see her husband Liew's incredible sculptures on his website. We have one on our front porch, it scares the trick-or-treaters.

Rabbitman

Liew has been working on several dog sculptures lately, and just finished this amazing Pit Bull sculpture

DIY Fabric Dog Silhouette Decor

2011-04-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

To create these silhouettes of our Boston Terriers Lily and Bean on our wall, I traced their images on fabric, cut them out and applied the fabric pieces to the wall with starch. This project is a quick and easy way to decorate bare walls, and it's completely removable so renter's rejoice!

Materials:

Fabric
Freezer paper
Sharp fabric scissors
Ball point pen
Spray starch
Rotary cutter and self healing mat (optional)
Parchment paper (optional)
Tracing paper (optional)
Computer and printer (optional)

1. Select a photo of your pet that is mostly a side view. Print it out at the scale you would like the wall decal. For larger photos you can have them printed in black and white at a copy store for just a few dollars.

2. Trim your fabric to a size that is just larger than the print out. Iron if necessary.

3. Cut a piece of freezer paper that is just smaller than the fabric. Adhere the freezer paper shiny side down to the right side of the fabric with an iron on a low heat setting.

4. Put tracing paper on top of the freezer paper, and then lay your print out or photo copy on top.

5. Trace around your image with a ball point pen to transfer it to the freezer paper. You can make it as simple or as detailed as you like. Try to avoid too many tiny areas that might be difficult to cut out.

6. Cut out the fabric with the freezer paper still adhered to it. The freezer paper helps to stabilize the fabric and make it easier to cut, as well as helping you transfer the image. Peel the freezer paper off after you've cut out your puppy profile.

7. Spray the entire fabric head with starch so that it's all fairly damp throughout. You can position it on the wall now that it's wet. Move it around and get it just where you want it. The starch will take quite awhile to dry and is easily removed even if it does dry, so you have some time to work with multiple pieces.

8. Once you have the piece where you want it, place parchment paper over the fabric and iron on low to medium heat. Don't stay too long in one spot because it may cause the paint below to melt. Iron 1-2 minutes while keeping the iron moving. The starch may not be completely dry at this point, but it's okay to leave it and let it dry on the wall as long as the piece is flat and sticking completely to the wall.

These custom wall "decals" can be easily removed when you want to redecorate. Bean and Lily are now staring nobly at one another above our coat and leash rack, and when we move out of our rental there will be no messy residue. The leash bag is one of ours and I use it daily to hold plastic bags and treats for the walk. I was so pleased with the silhouettes I decided to make a few more to create an applique pillow. Bean is on one side and Lily is on the other. Can you guess which one is which?

Here's the finished result, and it's posted here for sale. I had so much fun working on these, and I'd love to make you a wall applique or custom silhouette pillow for your pup. Contact us for more information.

Kids' Crafts for Dogs Tutorial #1: Collar Dress Up

2011-04-14T12:22:00.000-07:00

I recently posted about someone from the Martha Stewart Show contacting me to see if I had any ideas for puppy crafts for kids. As you can imagine, I was over the moon! Before you ask... I still don't know if they will ever use these ideas on the show, but I was very pleased to be considered and I'm really happy with the ideas I developed. I'll be sharing all four ideas with you this week in how-to posts including step by step instructions and printable templates. This first tutorial will show you how to create felt ties, bones and flowers that slide on your pet's collar for an extra special decoration.

Puppy Collar Dress Up
Create a tie, flower or monogrammed bone with an opening that slides on over your puppy’s collar.and assist them with gluing and decorating. Best suited for children ages 6-7 and up. Pre-cut fabric pieces for younger children.

Materials:
1-3 sheets of different colored felt
Fabric glue
Optional: glitter glue, buttons, embroidery thread or felt cutouts. You can also use paper or fun foam for this project instead of the felt.

1. Print the templates provided below at 8.5" x 11". Using the templates, cut out the large felt shapes and fold in half where light blue line is shown.

3. Apply fabric glue at the top and bottom of the felt pieces, leaving the rest of the space between shapes open - this is where the collar will slide through.

4. Decorate with felt cut outs, glitter glue, buttons or stitching.

5. Slide your pet’s collar through the opening for a beautiful spring collar corsage or a
smart looking neck tie for your pup!

© 2011 Beantown Handmade. All Rights Reserved
Images, tutorial and text are all intended for personal use only and are the property of Beantown Handmade.

This Year's Low Budget Garden

2011-04-13T07:05:00.000-07:00

My husband and I love to garden, but we are always on a tight budget so we don't usually spend more than $75 per year on materials. Our goal is to save more on food than we spend on materials each year, so that forces us to get creative (aka trashy chic) with our garden design.

Two years ago we built this tomato cage/greenhouse to keep squirrels and rabbits away from plants they might be tempted to nibble on. We live in an old house and there are old windows, doors and scrap wood scattered throughout the garage and basement. Most of the wood for the greenhouse body came from those, and we covered it with chicken wire. The roof is created with window screens we purchased at the Eco Store, which is a building and home recycling business here in town.

After the first year the tomatoes completely took over so now the green house is dominated by volunteer tomatoes. The plywood box out front was our "beet box" made from scrap materials. It worked great! Our soil is very compacted and that makes it tough to grow root crops without raised beds. This year we added an additional garden plot in front so we could add some kale, kohlrabi and more lettuce to our crop.

We purchased stakes at the local hardware store and stapled vinyl coated wire mesh fencing to them to keep the bunnies out. We have tons and tons of bunnies here in Nebraska, I've never seen so many in my life.

Up comes the lettuce! We have kale as well coming up now in our new plot. I put the kale and lettuce beds under homemade wire and plastic cloches to germinate but they probably didn't need it. I'm just glad they survived the recent snow. The rest of our seedlings are safe in the basement under a grow light - I'll post pictures of our on-the-cheap set up soon.

We also grow crops throughout the yard in our flower beds. We have chives, sage, and mint in with the a mess of lilies, tulips and iris (all acquired by friends or free on Craigslist), and I replenish our rosemary, dill and basil there each year from seed. Last year we tried eggplants, onions and carrots in the flower beds, but they really needed better soil. We had some tomatoes there as well and they thrived, but we definitely did not need that many!

Last year's flower bed, full of tomatoes and eggplant - our lettuce bolts fast in warm and sunny yard, this year it will be in partial shade

This year's chives are looking really pretty and we are already munching on them

Bean and Lily love to hang out in the yard while we work on the garden. They enjoy basking in the sun and taking a dip in their plastic wading pool. I think we are all impatient for all the seedlings to go in the ground and for the temps to warm up just a bit so we can spend longer days outside. Happy Spring!

An Interview with Artist Annette Tait of Dragon House of Yuen

2011-04-10T15:42:00.000-07:00

I wrote this article for Handmadeology and wanted to share it with our Bean's Blog readers as well.

Annette Tait is the creator of Dragon House of Yuen, where you can find her soft sculptures, watercolors and delightful stories about the creatures she creates. Annette has lived in Zambia and Australia and now resides in Edinburgh, Scotland. Her works primarily take the form of carefully crafted hares, and she is very active in supporting house rabbits and rabbit rescues. I am very excited to introduce you to Annette's creative work and unique poetic voice, which really capture the individual spirit of Etsy.

Hi Annette, tell us a little bit about how you got started as an artist. When did you make your first soft sculpture?

Hi Anne, any thanks for your questions!
I made a pony for my dad when I was about 7 I think, but when I was 14 I made a few very life-like felt rats with moveable arms and tails and sold them at a local market in Australia. They were really popular and I loved them.

Why did you decide to start selling your artwork on Etsy?

It was Christmas 2007, I was out of work, as I had to leave my managers position (with Royal Doulton) due to migraines from working in a stuffy unventilated place lit with fluorescent lights, so etsy was the start of an online income for me and a future that would not have been possible a few years earlier – so many thanks Rob Kalin for your vision! It was slight desperation. Plus I liked the look of etsy and the emphasis on hand made, it felt very approachable and the place to be.

What was the first piece you posted on Etsy?

I think it may have been one of my cards. The beginning was a bit rough, my photos were forgettable and my memory is vague!

Bradamante the female warrior hare

The stories you create about your pieces in your item listings and on your blog are equally as wonderful as your artwork. Tell us a little bit about how you create the histories and narratives behind your pieces.

Thank you! When I make a hare, I hold them in my hand and slowly look in their eyes and I’ll get a feel for names with the right sound to match their expression.
So for example, the creation of Bradamante, the little warrior hare, was because she has a very serious appearance but is also a very beautiful hare. So she needed a name that reflected these striking qualities. One of my favourite movies is ‘Hearts and Armour’ with Tanya Roberts and Ron Moss, about the Moors and Saracens. It’s a love story and Bradamante is one of the female warriors. In fact Bradamante was one of the greatest female knights in literature! Now that is saying something. So my hare had to reflect this fighting spirit in the 21st century, as all my hares live in the present, in today’s world with all that it entails. As an ex soldier I’m well versed to write about the military so I made her a soldier. Ofcourse she is the best and has the respect of the other soldiers. They are in awe of her! Not only is she a fearless soldier, she happens to be a hare! Now how many hares do you know serving in the Army? and if you went into a barracks today just imagine how surprised you would be to see a tiny hare there attending the various courses. Anyway, after I get the right name with a little bit of background to the name if it has particular historical / factual qualities, I then see the hare spring to life in my mind and start to do things. Their voice is very strong and they just start to talk. Usually it just takes an image or a word or a feeling and the journey begins. And I always try to make it a little humourous and usually with some advice or small lesson squeezed in. All my animals are fallible and with small quirks and foibles. It’s the small, everyday, unsaid things that make your heart fall in love I believe and my animals all have this. Because I wouldn’t be doing my job very well if I was only entertaining and not enlightening. It’s very important for me to always be getting messages across. That’s how I’ve learnt about life – the hard way was thru my lessons, and the easy way is thru reading about others. So my hares carry these little gifts with them and I’m hoping that the readers see that, with open eyes, minds and hearts.

Do you have a favorite character you’ve created over the years? Tell us a little bit about him/her?

I have no favourite characters, only voices. Priceless is witty but innocent, his wife Evdokia is passionate and strong willed. Hare, from my 2nd shop The Hares Nest, is cynical and wry and has no time for nonsense, and all my baby hares and squirrels are caring and optimistic. They carry hope for a better future where all humans will treat animals with great respect and care for the world because that is not the case now. My mother hares are more experienced and have nearly seen it all, they carry the wisdom and love that will shape the babies into decent hares. My mother hares are based on my own mum who is a perfect mum to me, always has been, now that I am old enough and wise enough to see and appreciate this! (and thank her for that!) I hope that everyone who reads my stories, no matter what their age, will take something away with them that will make them a better person to the animals and the world. My stories are actually written for adults, to read to themselves, to read to their youngsters, their dogs and house rabbits, and to the birds coming for dinner on their verandah. So my characters, I suppose, all have this voice of universal love in them.

Annette's baby hare illustrations are now available as lovely wall decals through Wilson Graphics.

What are some great ways you’ve found to build a community around your blog and your work?

If only I knew?! I can only follow my own path and be true to myself. I have been inspired by others but I walk alone in this journey because I think I am rather crap at marketing, detest market research, absolutely loathe trends and the ‘in thing’, am never swayed by public opinion and answer to no-one except myself. Plus I am completely loyal to my customers and guard their privacy vehemently and I will not boast about anything nor flaunt anything (knowlingly) unless I can put a bit of self-effacing humour in it. I believe that if people wish to stop by for a read or a smile then they can do so without interruption from me, unless of course they would like a virtual cup of tea! My kettle is always on and treats atop the cake stand.

Felt Dog Head Mannequin

2011-04-08T12:53:00.000-07:00

Craft show season is coming up, and I have been wanting to make a mannequin to model our hats for awhile. I did a few mannequin sketches last year before we went to Renegade Craft Fair Chicago, but I just had no idea how to make it so I left it for another time. Last week I was at the craft store and I noticed these smooth styrofoam balls that seemed to be the perfect size (the size of Bean's noggin). I had some wooden dowel rods at home and used some 2x4 wood scraps to make the bases. I drilled out holes the size of the dowels, put in a little wood glue, and stuck the dowels in place. Then I poked holes in the styrofoam balls for the dowels to go inside. Once I did this I realized the inside of the balls contained about a million tiny lose white styrofoam pieces that seem to defy gravity and are still all over my studio, Bean, Lily and me.

I created the felt pieces for the face one side at a time, shaping and pinning the felt to get the facial features in the right spot. Then I mirrored each piece to create the opposite side of the face. I pinned all the felt into place as I went along, and left the sewing for once I had both the black and white pieces pinned where I wanted them. I crocheted a nose and pinned that on, and it started to look more like Bean (but also a little like Mickey Mouse).

I used thick coated wire for the ears and stuck it into the styrofoam, then check to make sure the ears would fit the hats. Again, I created one ear piece, then traced it several times to create the back of the ear and both sides of the opposite ear. The next step was to begin sewing the felt together along the seams. Bean does not understand why there are so many likenesses of him in the house. Lily barked at it.

Once I added the mouth, I think it captured the Boston Terrier look and started to look a little bit less like a mouse. I sewed around the base of the form as well so it would stay in place, though the head can still rotate a bit. I have a second one in progress that I'm hoping to finish before we head out to Portland for Crafty Wonderland May 7th. Here's the finished product modeling our string tie hat.

Please Don't Steal From Artists

2011-04-07T12:36:00.000-07:00

I am going to take a moment to discuss a really sucky thing that I know many artists and crafters have experienced - theft. It's a big wide world out there and the internet may seem like an enormous place, but there are people behind each and every image you find on the web. In the case of my photographs, that person is me. When someone uses my photos without permission and doesn't credit them to me, I lose. I lose credit, I lose an opportunity for increased awareness about my work, I lose money. I know lots of folks aren't worried about the fact that stealing another person's work from the web is copyright infringement, but they probably should be. More and more cases each year are being brought to court, and even though I'm not a big fan of the court case against the artist Shepard Fairey, it does show that there is a growing awareness of image ownership.

Stealing makes Lily sad

I teach art at a local college, and I talk to my students about image appropriation all the time. For many of them, the reality of someone ever misusing their images just doesn't exist so they feel free to blatantly copy anything they find in an image search on the web.
Here are just a few of the things (I know about) that have happened with my images in the two and a half years I've had them on the internet:
A British t-shirt company printed our image on a t-shirt, they even posted a few on Etsy (which duh! is how we caught them). We requested they remove them immediately and they are off the web, but who knows what they did with the t-shirts. I'm sure they probably sold them somewhere.
Countless blogs and websites have used our photos without crediting us or linking to the original image, some even put their own watermark on it.
Two businesses incorporated our photo into their logos without permission. These turned up in a simple Google search. We notified them they didn't have our permission, and they had to come up with something of their own to represent their brand.
A business owner posted pictures of Bean on their facebook website and said he was their dog (that one was just weird).

Many artists have created pieces based on my photographs, and if they are doing it for personal use only and ask for permission I have no problem with it at all. I own several fantastic pieces based on my photographs given to me by artists. When I see artists painting pictures that are exact copies of my photographs and selling them at craft shows - my blood boils like you wouldn't believe. As fellow artists I'm sure most understand that it is just not ethical to copy someone's artwork, plus it's also completely illegal. Here's a set of guidelines for fair use. You can find lots of great copyright free images on the web by searching for content that is part of the public domain.

I hear about image and idea theft from so many other artists who've experienced much worse. Here are just a few examples:
Gemma Correll's illustrations
Shelly Kennedy of Drooz Studio started an entire blog, Be Your Original Best, devoted to encouraging a "copycat free" artistic industry and creative community.
and so many more examples on You Thought We Wouldn't Notice

The big bummer in all this is that it's very expensive for little guys like us to take on larger businesses who steal our work. The best way to combat this as artists is to do your best to create truly original work and support the work of other artists who do the same. If you enjoy someone's work enough to share it on a blog or website- credit them! Better yet, buy their stuff! That way they will be able to stick around to make more. Many of the most successful crafters, artists and illustrators out there are living just above the poverty line. We need to do everything we can to make sure the handmade community survives the digital age. Let's not allow the anonymity of the internet to take away our compassion and humanity.

"Be the change you want to see in the world." - Gandhi

Drumroll....the winner of our hat giveaway caption contest is

2011-04-06T20:47:00.000-07:00

...Letitia and her pup Clyde the French Bulldog!

Each entry was assigned a number and Letitia's caption, chosen by a random number generator, was

"You shoulda seen the bubbles last week. They were comin out muh anoos!"

Thanks so much to everyone for participating and for following us on facebook, twitter and subscribing to the blog. Stay tuned for more giveaways during the spring and summer months!

Squeal! It's Luna

2011-04-02T07:40:00.000-07:00

When I looked at this first photo I emitted an involuntary squeal. The cuteness is just too much to handle.

Luna is a Frenchie puppy living in Vancouver and her owner Leonard wanted to keep her adorable little ears warm on the walk. Over 40% of our Beantown customers live in Canada - it's a cold life for a puppy up north.

Leonard wrote that Luna has just taken a 2 hour walk in these photos so she was a bit tuckered out. Lucky puppy! Thanks so much for the adorable photos Luna and Leonard!

Help support Frenchies and win some great stuff this month in French Bulldog Rescue Network's Spring Raffle! There are a lot of great items in these baskets, and several Beantown items in the Frenchie and Family on the Go Basket, including a set of collar corsages and our one of a kind Garden Party dog scarf, donated by our wonderful customer Katie of Locale Vintage. We also donated a Blue Blossom dog hat! We hope you'll check out all the awesome baskets and buy a ticket or two!

Caption Contest is Back!

2011-03-29T08:23:00.000-07:00

It's the time of year where we introduce our monthly caption contest and we're kicking it off with a big prize! When I took this photo of Bean I knew it would be a great caption contest contender.

Here's how it works: enter a caption for this photo in the comments below for a chance to win a String Tie Pom Pom ha t in the size and colors of your choice. The prize includes the cost of domestic or international shipping, so this is a value of up to $28. A winner will be chosen at random from the comments here on our blog Weds April 6th at 8pm. We will announce the winner's name (username to protect their privacy) here on the blog. Also feel free to leave your Twitter username, Etsy shop link, website link or other preferred method of contact with your comment and we'll get a hold of you there as well to notify you of your win!

Each user can submit one caption comment for a chance to win, plus get additional entries when you:
1. Follow our Facebook fan page and leave us a comment below to let us know
2. Follow Bean on Twitter and leave us a comment below
3. Follow Bean's Blog (here!) and leave us a comment below
4. Share a link to Bean's Blog, our Etsy shop, and/or our website on your website, facebook fan page, or blog and leave us a comment below for up to three additional entries
5. Don't want to log in here? Feel free to follow us on Twitter and tweet us your caption for a chance to win. (You can also like our Facebook page and tweet us about it!)

*Eligibility: open to all Bean's Blog readers worldwide

Good luck!

New Jackets and Add-Ons Now Available!

2011-03-28T11:22:00.000-07:00

We have a new line of jackets available in the shop that have a removable bag incorporated in the design. The jacket has three magnetic snaps that keep the bag on while also allowing it to be easily removed for access to your keys, poo bags, or treats. This allows you a more hands free walking experience and gives your pet a job on the walk.

I just created an posted a new Snap It Dog Jacket style in gray corduroy and our first attachment that converts the jacket into an insulated raincoat. The raincoat layer has floral oilcloth detail, a pocket and blue reflectors on the collar for increased visibility. It comes with three snaps on the underside that correspond to the snaps that hold the bag onto the jacket base. Remove the bag, snap on the raincoat layer and you have a whole new jacket with added warmth and protection from wind and rain.

Bean was a great model and was even more excited than usual about his liver bits (he gets one after every photograph). He blew his largest bubble yet. It was pretty impressive. Here he is modeling our new monogrammed collar hearts.

An Interview with Illustrator and Graphic Designer Nicole Gustafsson of Nimasprout

2011-03-25T10:02:00.000-07:00

I was excited to have the opportunity to interview Nicole Gustafsson, the fantastically talented illustrator behind Nimasprout. Nicole creates drawings, gouache paintings and prints that depict tiny and complex universes filled with imagination. Trained as a graphic designer, Nicole is currently working as a full time artist, part time framer and free lance designer. I first met Nicole through an artist residency program, and then started noticing her work all over in galleries, at friends' houses, local shops and craft fairs. She has a great following for her work both online and in her local community, and I talked with her about how she's been able to navigate between graphic design and fine art, the web and local customers and galleries.

1. Tell us a little bit about yourself. How did you get started creating drawings, paintings and prints?

My name is Nicole and I am an illustrator/designer working in Lincoln, Nebraska. I grew up in Norfolk, Nebraska and my interest in art and drawing was apparent from a very young age. My childhood was a mixture of running around the neighborhood with my friends and then hanging out in my room and drawing. My family was always very supportive with encouraging my artwork, and my school would enter my work in art contests. It was very exciting to see people’s reaction to my artwork, and it helped me to gain confidence to pursue art as a living.

Beautiful Journey, Gouache & Ink on Wood, 2011 - Commission for the group Nature Explore, whose goal is to provide comprehensive resources to help young children connect more deeply with the world around them.

2. How do you balance your creative energy with the business side of selling and promoting your work?

I wake up in the morning and focus on checking my emails, Etsy, and blog right away. That way if there are questions, orders, and messages I can answer them right away and get back to the customer. Then, when that’s all done, I work on one of my paintings or any graphic design projects I have.

Nicole's home studio in Lincoln, Nebraska

3. What have been the biggest obstacles for you while trying to make a living selling your art?

I think the main challenges for any artist are time and finances. Time to do what you love, and spending time with loved ones. Making sure that I have enough money to pay the bills, fund my projects, and get some groceries is always on the back of my mind. I have a part time job in the afternoons at a frame shop to help support my income. I love having a set job schedule to go to in the afternoon and it gets me out of the house (I have some hermit like tendencies) I like to see what projects people are bringing in to have framed and working at the frame shop is another way I can create with my hands.

Commissioned illustration set with poster and tin for the Nebraska Book Company, 2008

4. One of the things I admire about you is the great support you have for your work in the local community. What advice do you have for those looking to grow and maintain a following both on and off the web?

My advice would be to talk to the customers you do have. This may be meeting them at an art reception or answering emails. I think word of mouth is some of the best free advertising an artist can have. For example, friends may be visiting at someone’s house and see my work, then they could go online, or to a local gallery to see more of my work. Listen to what you customers like about your work, a lot of times people want a companion piece to add to their collection. Art is a great way to connect to people and make longtime friends in the process too.

5. What are three great ways you've found to promote your work and interact with potential customers?

The best way I have found to promote my work is through the Internet. I started a blog when I was in college, and more recently I started a Facebook fanpage and Twitter account. Blogging has been really great for tracking my work and events in my life. I like looking back a year ago and remembering what I did and where I was. Twitter and Facebook have been really beneficial to connecting with others, where as people may be shy to post on my blog. When I update twitter or post new projects to Facebook, minutes later I can have comments and reactions to my work. I have found it very supportive and encouraging.

6. You make prints, paintings, drawings and now adorable T-shirts as well. In addition to diversifying your artistic practice, do you find these help make your work accessible to those with different budgets who would love to own your work?

I began making illustrated cards, and t-shirt designs to have something available at a lower price point in my Etsy store and have more seasonal items to sell at holiday shows or craft fairs. It definitely helps to make my work more accessible and I like that my work may then appeal to a broader audience. Even though cards and shirts may have a lower price point, it is still very important to me to pick high quality materials and printers for items.

7. You are involved in some awesome fundraisers for charities right now. Tell us a little bit about the charities and how other artists and shoppers can help.

Two of the major fundraisers I did this year was Desert Bus for Hope and Art Blocks for Ghana. Desert Bus for Hope raises money for Childs Play who provides games, books, and toys for children in hospitals. They raise money in a few ways, the main and original way they did this is by a playing the game Desert Bus, non-stop, for several days straight and live-streaming it on the internet, during that time items can be auctioned off while they play the game. Originally the auctions consisted mostly of geek swag, t-shirts, posters, etc, but in recent years the biggest items were pieces of artwork and crafts that were inspired by video games and geek culture. I donated two pieces (inspired by Legend of Zelda and Mario Brothers) and had incredible responses from the video game community.

The latest charity I was involved in is Art Blocks for Ghana. They are auctioning off original works of art created by top artists within the animation and illustration community to provide boarding and education for orphaned children in Ghana, West Africa. This has been very rewarding to be included with a great group of artists. They also had two exhibits, one in New York and the other in Los Angeles, for people to view the works in person and I gained exposure to a wider audience that way.
I usually get ten or so requests a year for charity art donations, and of those I try to pick two or three charities a year to participate in that I really believe in. As an artist it is important to do your research on charities, because otherwise your work could go for way below it’s value and then it doesn’t help the fundraiser and undervalues your hard work. Desert Bus and Art Blocks for Ghana are fundraisers that I know will directly impact the lives of others and I can meet other artists and groups. These two charities are also great because they update the artists exactly how their donation was used to help reach their goals.

I highly recommend reading more about Nicole's studio practice through her wonderfully written blog, and taking a look at her beautiful artwork and graphic design on her websites and at craft fairs and galleries throughout the MidWest. Thank you Nicole for sharing your work with us!

This article was written by Anne Burton for Handmadeology

Seriously Crazy Cute

2011-03-24T11:12:00.000-07:00

Bettie is outrageously adorable, and it's only magnified by her new outfit.

The cuteness is off the charts

Bettie is modeling her new Abominable Snow Bean hat and matching taupe and claret High Collar Sweater

Thanks so much to our customer Mariah for sharing these wonderful photos with us!

Customer Photo Roundup Day #7

2011-03-22T15:39:00.000-07:00

Marlieu in his high collar sweater with stripe, from Nichole in Dallas!

Cutie in a cotton candy crocheted collar, thanks to Allie in Georgia for sharing!

A little grumpy in the icy blue crocheted collar, thanks again to Allie in Georgia for the photos!

Customer Photo Roundup Day #6

2011-03-22T07:48:00.000-07:00

Oops I missed a day in photo roundup, lucky you this means two adorable photo posts today. Here's the first!

Few things can compete with Captain Fenway's adorable ears. Here he is modeling his slate jacket with his red sweater and once again giving Bean a run for his money. Thanks to Jennifer for the great photo!

The reluctant Count, thanks to Melissa in PA for this fantastic pic!

Amedeo in Italy also in our slate jacket, thanks to Anna for sharing Amedeo's adorable face!

Customer Photo Roundup Day #5

2011-03-20T09:49:00.000-07:00

Shirley is not so sure about her new hat

But the color really looks great on her and she's adorable

Here she is showing off her new striped sweater


And her collar corsage

Thanks so much to Lisa in Wisconsin for sharing these adorable pictures of Shirley with us! Two more days of customer photo roundup to be continued tomorrow!

Customer Photo Roundup Day #4

2011-03-19T13:56:00.000-07:00

Lovely Bella in her raspberry xsmall Ultra Warm sweater still on sale on our website!, thanks so much to Abigail in Florida for sharing this photo

Sir Rex in his Count neck warmer, thanks to Winnie in Chicago!


What an adorable Frenchie! High Collar sweater in fig with citron stripe, photo from Abbie in New Jersey

More great photos on their way tomorrow! Have a wonderful Saturday from Bean and the gang.

Customer Photo Roundup Day #3

2011-03-18T06:33:00.000-07:00

Here are more of the wonderful customer photos we've received over the last few months, plus more to come tomorrow!

Emma wearing both of her custom color dog collar corsages, from Diane in Iowa

Ruby in her Cupid's Cloak, thanks to Heather for the cute pic!

Cody, Sasha, and Homer in their floral collars, thank you Sachiko for sharing your adorable puppy crew!

Customer Photo Roundup Day #2

2011-03-17T08:47:00.000-07:00

We've received so many adorable photos this winter and we hope you keep them coming! They are my favorite part of what I do.


The lovely Shirley in her Cupid's Cloak, thanks to Lisa in Wisconsin for these great photos


The adorable Churchill in his Blue Baron hat right here in Lincoln, NE - thanks to Brianne for the great photo. The Blue Baron is currently on sale on our website.


The adorable Bat is his Beretta sweater, his owners registered for this sweater for their wedding - a first for us and so cool. The Beretta is also on sale right now, and is a good fit for cats and also small dogs with a longer build. See the listing for measurements, it's a pretty great price at the moment.

Thanks so much to our wonderful customers for your continued support of our small business!
Bean, Lily, Anne and Michael

Customer Photo Roundup Day #1

2011-03-16T10:19:00.000-07:00

We had our busiest fall and winter seasons yet here at Beantown Handmade, and while we posted many customer photos on our Facebook fan page, we fell behind here on our blog. So every day for the next week I'm going to blast you with pictures of pups and kitties in their Beantown finest - enjoy!

Ruby in her raspberry Blue Baron hat ready for her scooter ride in Germany


Ruby in her custom color Abominable Snow Bean hat, from Lisa in Germany

Zoe in her Purple Blossom pet hat from Lisa in PA

When Life Imitates Art

2011-03-15T10:00:00.000-07:00

My husband Michael and I took a trip out to Denver last week to attend a whirlwind four days of events celebrating the opening of Blink! Light, Sound and the Moving Image at the Denver Art Museum. Many of you know that my husband Michael Burton is an artist who creates painted stop action animations, and we were so excited that his piece was included in this awesome all video and digital media exhibition. Other artists included in the exhibition were heavy hitters like Bill Viola, Jennifer Steinkamp and William Kentridge. Pretty surreal.

Michael and me at the exhibition preview party

Michael in front of his piece, Frequency

We went to an artist reception on the top floor of the D and F Clocktower, which was beautiful and had an amazing view.

View from the top of the D&F Clocktower

Michael was really busy, but I had the opportunity to explore the DAMs huge collection of art and artifacts. They had a great Post Modern and Contemporary art collection, as well as some really wonderful pieces from all over the world. When I saw these three ancient Chinese dog sculptures, I knew I needed to share them with you. They are from the Han Dynasty, roughly 206 BC. Amazing.

Bean and Lily stayed at home with my wonderful studio assistant Madison, who was an absolute angel when Bean decided to puke on her in the bed. He's done this to me twice. The smell stays with you.

If you are in the Denver area, please stop by to see Michael's stop action demonstration at the DAM this Saturday March 19th from 11am-6pm. He will be using artist's tape to create a stop action animation on the walls and floor of the museum, and the public will be able to participate.

Wholesale, Consignment and Drop Shipping: A Breakdown for Artists

2011-03-07T18:56:00.000-08:00

When I was first starting out on Etsy I would get a variety of confusing emails asking questions like do you wholesale/consign/drop ship? It’s good to be informed and consider which options are right for your business so you’re prepared to field questions from retailers. Don’t get taken unawares.

Wholesale means selling your products to retailers in bulk for a lower price. Basically, you are introducing a middleman between you and your customers. The benefits of wholesale are many: reliable steady income, a broader audience for your work, and chunks of money that help pay the rent. However, in order to sell your product wholesale you will need to give retailers a competitive and lower price than what you sell products for on Etsy or your website. Selling wholesale means setting retail prices that are roughly 50% higher than what you can afford to sell your product for wholesale. If you decide to sell wholesale, setting opening order minimums and reorder minimums is a great way to structure things so that you are making some money from all your hard work. Depending on how much business you do and what type of retailers you deal with your opening order minimum could be anywhere from $75 to $1200. If you want to attract retailers to purchase from you, creating a line sheet is a great way to put information about your wholesale prices and policies in a neat little package to send out. Also consider your lead time, or how quickly you can ship wholesale orders of various sizes. This may vary depending on the season and how busy you are.

Selling wholesale often means making many of the same item. Make sure you are ready and willing to create lots of multiples before agreeing to wholesale.

Consignment is an arrangement where a shop displays your goods in their store and when they sell the item they take a commission and send you money. You retain the legal ownership of your items, and are often paying to ship them to the store. When selling consignment, research the shop and make sure they are legit. There is a gamble when you send goods out and are not receiving money right away in return. In my experience consignment commission rates vary from 30-50%. It can be a pain to get products back when you consign, so you may want to be cautious and send smaller batches of products until you’ve built a trusting relationship with a consignor.

The first time someone asked me if I drop ship I had to go and look it up because I had zero idea what that meant. Drop shipping is similar to consignment, but your product is posted on a retailer’s website and you ship the product directly to the customer. Commission rates for drop shipping in my experience also range from 30-50%. A few questions to ask up front: Will they want to use your photos to sell your products? Will they rename your product on their site? Will they mention your brand name in the item listing? Additional information to consider when setting a commission rate: What kind of traffic do they have on their site? Do they advertise? Do they have a printed catalog and/or attend trade shows? Will they also purchase some of your products wholesale?

Setting commission rates is hard and it’s difficult to figure out what’s fair. If I could sell everything I make at retail that would be wonderful. However, we all know the risk in retail is that sales will be unreliable when you need money the most. When you sell on Etsy and your own website, the overhead can be as much as 20% just to sell online. Retailers take on that responsibility so that’s a little piece of the pie that earns them their percentage. Plus, if you are doing a good job branding the work you sell wholesale (sewing in tags, hang tags, etc) people will find you and purchase from you directly as well. If a retailer has a great following and will lead to me getting more sales through them and on my own website, then they are earning their 50%.

Finally, consider whether you have the time and resources available to offer your products at less than retail. I had to hire an assistant when I started wholesaling. Retailers will want products from you during peak seasons as well, so make sure you equipped to handle your best case scenario – lots of orders! Selling wholesale can also mean including more specific packaging with your products. I designed hang tags with sizing information to make things easy for retailers carrying our products.

I know that many of you out there are veterans of handmade business and have much more than my two years of experience under your belts. I’d love to hear what you’ve learned and what’s worked for you!

I highly recommend Craft Inc. by Meg Mateo Ilasco for additional reading about wholesale and consignment. The Craft Inc. business planner is wonderful as well and has some good templates for wholesale order forms and policies.

Handmadeology: How to Write a Line Sheet Catalog for Wholesale

Dueling Personalities

2011-03-05T10:05:00.000-08:00

Since I started Beantown Handmade in November 2008, I've been wrestling with two passions. I got my MFA in the Spring of 2008 in visual art, and while my undergraduate background was in printmaking, I've worked primarily as a painter and installation artist since my second year of grad school. I learned how to crochet in a college sculpture class (which is why I neither write nor read crochet patterns), and started crocheting again while working on doilies for an installation in 2006. Once I was out of school and confronted with the harsh reality of wanting to be a professor in a bad economy, I realized I finally had to figure out a way to actually make a living as an artist.

I love teaching and I was fortunate to be able to teach here and there as adjunct faculty at the local university, community college and art center. My husband and I got married in June of 2008 and adopted Bean just eight weeks later. Bean was born the weekend my husband and I got married, so at two and a half he is the exact age of our marriage. Bean is a really big baby about a lot of things (our fault), especially the cold, so I started making him sweaters in the Fall. Turns out it was a new passion in my life and a way to actually make a living by creating.

I am still a practicing artist and half of my home studio is devoted to paintings and my ongoing collection of vintage toys and small sculptures. I exhibit my work and you can see some of it on my website. I don't strive to sell my artwork, though occasionally this happens and it's glorious. But I don't really want to make art to sell. I am really familiar with how the pressure to sell can make it hard to create, and I want to protect at least one aspect of my creative life.

My husband Michael is also an artist and creates painted animations. Recently we started collaborating on video pieces that animate my small scale installations. We created our first collaborative exhibition and animation, titled Tween, in December 2010. You can see all of Michael's self-coined paintamations on his website, and you can see his piece Frequency at the Denver Art Museum this spring in the exhibition Blink! Light, Sound and the Moving Image. Michael will also be creating a stop action animation in the museum Saturday March 19th, and the process will be collaborative with the public.

Starting my own handmade business made me realize that I don't have to be in academia to make a living as an artist. While I'm still open to the idea of teaching full time someday, I feel very fortunate to have a job that allows me a lot of creative freedom. I have the time and space to work on both my artwork and my small business, and I'll be able to work from home if we decide to have a family. While balancing my two creative selves can be difficult and can leave me feeling guilty about neglecting one or the other, I have no plans to give up either of my dueling personalities.

Evolution

2011-03-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

This week on Handmadeology I wrote a post titled, Give it To Me Straight, about the importance of constructive criticism and self-awareness in selling handmade. As a companion piece to that article, I wanted to write about sustaining your success in handmade business through willingness to adapt and change. I included this quote in the first article, which I love

“Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” – Albert Einstein

This quote describes the heart of life's conundrum: change is uncomfortable and hard. We may be willing to change in some aspects of our life, but pretty much everyone has something they are a little stuck on. We tend to develop a blind spot to that particular issue. I truly discovered that I am extremely stubborn about my artwork in my first year of grad school. There were certain things about my artistic practice that I would not change. There was a certain laziness on some level that manifested itself as me working really hard on some things but totally ignoring others. From the outside I was a productive student, but on the inside I was hiding my fear of truly changing and challenging myself. I was pretty sure I should stick with what worked for me in the past.

Getting an MFA did not afford me any practical knowledge about making a living selling my work, but it did teach me how to scan myself for lazy spots. It helped me learn how to see myself as others did. And to take next steps when they were really needed, even if it meant doing something that made me feel really scared and anxious.

Bean looks like he went on a crochet bender

Starting a handmade business requires risk. Selling dog hats isn't exactly job security. Paying for a new website or for advertising is a gamble. When you are already struggling financially it's difficult to make these choices. Changing your photography style or the type of products you offer is also super scary. However, it's necessary that we evolve. You don't want to make the same exact thing for 10 years, and your customers probably don't want to see the same exact thing for much longer than a year, or even for a season. This doesn't mean you should change your identity as an artist and craftsperson, it just means that the time to grow is always now. If you want different and better results, you gotta sweat.

I would love to hear about the things that you'd like to change and risks/gambles you've taken with your work, with your shop, or with your life. What kinds of things keep you from changing? Where's your lazy spot?

Bean and Lily, International Bostons of Mystery

2011-03-01T11:38:00.000-08:00

Bean and Lily made appearances on several international blogs this week, and it never ceases to surprise me where they turn up! Here they are in Germany and two different blogs from Spain. Considering Bean is now sitting here with me in Nebraska sniffing his own butt, it's pretty amazing how he manages so much world travel.

Selekkt

Mundo Chica

Olvidalo, Entenderlo es Complicado

Because these blogs were kind enough to provide links to our shop (hooray and thank you to them!) we were able to trace the traffic. We recommend using Google Analytics or a similar service to analyze your website's traffic. You never know what might turn up!

A Monday Pick Me-Up

2011-02-28T12:01:00.000-08:00

Stink Eye?

Just try not to smile, I dare you

sitting pretty

Beautiful Bailey is looking extra lovely in her new Ultra Warm sweater and Sweetheart collar. Thanks so much to Steve and Dan in Chicago, IL for sharing these adorable photos with us!

How on Earth Do You Get Your Dogs to Wear Hats?!

2011-02-25T10:20:00.000-08:00

People ask us this question pretty frequently and you might be surprised by the answer. We don't really have to try hard at all, and if I did I wouldn't put my dogs in hats. I love my dogs to the moon and back and would never put them in a situation that compromised their trust in me.

Modeling jealousy: Bean did NOT want Lily to be so close to him on the backdrop, and he tried his best to slowly push her off.

Positive reinforcement and training are a huge part of creating a trusting relationship with our dogs. I have spent many many hours training Bean and Lily, and I work with them all day each and every day in my home office and studio. This is why my office smells like farts.
Bean and Lily get treats when a hat comes out, when a hat goes on, and after each photograph we take. They get another treat when the hats come off. The whole time they wear a hat we tell them how special they are and I smile and clap my hands and tell them I love them. I have never laughed at them when they were wearing a hat, and I try not to laugh at them at all (even when Bean fell off the back of the sofa). They will only feel shame if I project shame onto them.

I make sure the items fit them properly. If a hat is too small, too big or too tight a dog will definitely not want to wear it. Try to size the item, take it off, button it and then put it on as quickly as possible so as not to bother your pets by fussing too much. They should be able to go about their business in our more functional hats. For our photo prop hats, we recommend never leaving them on for longer than 5-10 minutes. This may amaze you but our photo shoots last about 60 seconds per product. I set everything up and only put the hat on when I'm ready to photograph. Bean has been modeling since he was 4 months old and goes to his spot on the backdrop as soon as it comes out. Sometimes when I want to just shoot the products on their own it's tough to get him out of the way.

Bean is always ready for his close-up.

I do pretty frequently have to use Photoshop to edit out drool. Those (low cal) liver snacks are pretty tasty. So there you have it, dog hat mystery revealed.

You Get What You Pay For

2011-02-24T15:11:00.000-08:00

Penny pinching and shoe string budgets have been a part of my life for quite some time now. There were many years where I couldn't eat meat not on principle but because I just couldn't afford it.

When I was in grad school working on my MFA for three years, I was on a really fixed income. I ate grilled cheese and rice a roni, drank really cheap beer (necessary to get through the MFA), shopped at thrift stores and lived in a studio apartment. It's good to do these things when you're young, but I tended to spend too much on cheap culture and spent it in ways that didn't really benefit me or anyone else.

Five years ago I stopped shopping at Walmart, and I don't feel like I'm missing anything. Well... I'm missing the fluorescent lit, depressive and scary experience that can be shopping at Walmart. It's really hard on a fixed income to always shop local when it can cost more for the same thing you'd buy in a big store, and let me be clear that I have not cut big box stores out of my life all together. However, I do choose to spend my money a little more thoughtfully these days.

Lily loves this thrift store black leather chair, she has gotten her $20 out of it already

Spending money is like casting a vote. It says, "this is what I value!" Once I started to think about shopping this way it completely changed my ability to throw money away on things I didn't need. I do buy things that are grown or made locally. My dogs eat organic dog food made here in Nebraska and it's actually pretty affordable. I shop at the farmer's market and grow my own food in a garden. We make our own beer. I became addicted to Craigslist and own some of the coolest old furniture I've ever seen. Eventually I started feeling more content about not having a $2000 sofa from Pottery Barn. Is that what I want for the world? More Pottery Barn? ...well, I wouldn't turn down a Le Creuset dish...but that's just a dream about a $150 luxury item I may not ever be able to afford. I can still cook a chicken and make it taste good, you know?

Beets grown in our garden "beet box"

I don't make very much selling handmade. After I pay for overhead, health insurance, income tax, medicare, disability insurance, and the myriad of other convoluted things small business owners need to pay for there is just not much left. There is no way I could hire a full time or even consistently part time employee right now. There have been times I was just barely above the poverty line, and I am considered a pretty successful handmade business. Remember when you see the price of handmade you are paying not only for the hours it took to make that object, you are supporting a way of life that is hard to manage. When you purchase handmade, you vote for people like me to still exist in the world.

Many people sell handmade as a hobby, and that is wonderful. That's how I got started and I was so thrilled when I had a sale, the money was like an added bonus. But please remember if you sell your work on the side, you should still pay yourself at least minimum wage. It's not just about the validation of selling your work, it's about respecting yourself and having others respect what your time is worth. It's also about supporting a community of handmade artists who need the world to understand handmade is worth so much more than something mass produced.

Michael with his first homemade IPA

Own less, own better. Shop local when you can, and buy one handmade something instead of two pieces of throw away culture. A handmade item will last longer and will take some of the clutter out of your life. It will make you feel good every time you see it. You will never wonder if you wasted money on it, because somewhere out there you helped an artist buy her dog a bone.

Additional Reading:

Mindful Spending on Scoutie Girl

Be Mindful With Your Spending on Handmadeology

The Entertainer

2011-02-22T07:21:00.000-08:00

Keeping the studio fun and interesting – it’s good for you, it’s good for business.

Top hats for dogs are not exactly the paradigm of practicality. Dressing my dog up like Godzilla and designing a miniature city for him to destroy is not really how I would describe a hard day at work. But I don’t create everything I sell with the aim of duplicating it over and over and selling hundreds. Often I create because I have an idea that sounds like a lot of fun, and I can’t wait to get back to the studio to try it out. The thrill of creating something unique is the reason that most people go into handmade business, and it’s important to maintain a studio practice that supports your individuality and allows you to enjoy your process. In fact, it’s most likely integral to your success.

A light bulb ignites above your head. You rush to the store to get materials. You can’t wait to get home to try it out, take pictures of it and share it with the world. This is an extraordinary feeling. When you decide to sell something you are passionate about, it is reflected in your final product. You will photograph and write about it lovingly. Your audience will be as excited as you are about the piece. Customers purchase handmade to own a little bit of this creative excitement. So when we’re burnt out from the holiday rush, craft shows and trying to make rent … how on earth do we sustain it?

Be strict about scheduling experimentation. If crafting is how you support yourself, studio time can be stressful. We’re not in this to get rich quick – I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to spend money on luxuries like spinny rims for my Volvo or cable tv. I spend forty hours a week creating things I need to make in order to feed my family, but let’s not forget about the big extra something that makes this all worth while – the joy of making. Give yourself a few hours a week where you will try something new in the studio. Stick to it even if it doesn’t result in a finished result or saleable product. Use the time to dream up ten things you’d love to make. Draw whatever comes into your head for three hours and see what happens. Sing The Girl is Mine to your dog while she licks your face…that’s what I was doing in the studio when I came up with the idea for this article.

Don't Filter. Not everything you make can or has to be something you will sell. In addition to stoking your creative fire, experimentation can be something you write about. Photograph the process and share your successes and failures in the studio with your customers on your blog or facebook. While we need to filter what becomes a product, we don't always need to filter our creative process so that we appear glamorous and perfect. People buy handmade because they are looking for something made by a human. Se be human.

Whatever you do, relax now and then, and remind yourself why you enjoyed studio time way back before it was how you paid the bills. This is how we sustain creative energy and originality, and these are the qualities that make handmade products so appealing.

New New New!

2011-02-22T07:10:00.000-08:00

It's the time of year where I get to design a whole new line, and I am having so much fun coming up with pieces for your pets for spring and summer. I have several pieces I'd like to highlight that are now available on our website and in our Etsy shop.

This top hat has been on my list of things I'd wanted to make for almost two years. After two more inquiries about if/when I might make a top hat, this spring I decided to go for it! I'm very pleased with the result. This hat would make a great photo prop for a wedding or portrait shoot. It's softly padded underneath and I used a wide elastic band so it won't cut into your sweetie's neck. I often hesitate to make items for pets that offer them nothing practical in return, but I feel confident that this will be a very unobtrusive addition to your pet's ensemble. I would love to make a hat to coordinate with wedding colors, or with a flower or faux feather accent. I also made a floral fascinator hat for Lily that I will be posting very soon.

New collar corsage bundles will be appearing the shop for those of you that have multiple furry friends to shop for, or for those pups who want to look good every day of the week. I have about 30 of these in my studio right now waiting to get put together, so if there is a color combination you would adore just let me know! Many will have some new adorable fabric button and doily centers, and I've even designed a few with pins for you to wear as well.

Sales! I'm offering an end of season sale on many of our hats and sweaters right now. It dropped down to 12 degrees this morning here so it's not feeling like spring. Bean and Lily still require bundling up before they will agree to go outside. All hats are still on sale on our website!

More to come: today we are photographing a brand new jacket style that I'm really excited about. I hope to have it posted very soon. We're also photographing two new hat styles!

I am also excited to be a new member of the writing team for Handmadeology. I'll be writing posts for the site once a week and I have really enjoyed the feedback I've gotten so far. You can read all my posts about running a handmade business here in Bean's Handmade Handbook, a free online guide to selling handmade. It is an ongoing series of articles you'll find right here on Bean's Blog that focuses on all aspects of creating and selling your craft.
And here's your moment of Zen...

Telling Your Story

2011-02-17T12:08:00.000-08:00

Handmade is personal. It's important to tailor your online presence to reflect the reflect the considerable thought and care you put into creating each piece. Your profile, product photographs and listing descriptions can all help you tell the story of your work.

Create an online profile that describes who you are and your background as a craftsperson. Here are a few questions to consider answering in your profile section.

What do you want to highlight most about yourself? Put this into a few really nice succinct opening sentences. For example, "Every Beantown Handmade item is carefully created by hand in our Nebraska studio under the supervision of our two Bostons, Lily and Bean." I hope this conveys that I make everything by hand and I love my dogs. Those are two things I find very important about what I do.
What do you love about your craft and why do you do it? How did you get started creating ceramics/jewelry/clothing/garden gnomes?
Is there anything you can highlight about your training/educational background that people might appreciate or find interesting? How many years have you been practicing your craft?
Do you have other interests (hobbies, travel, family life) that impact your art? Give people something to identify with. Make the case for supporting your work.

Take photographs that fully illustrate how amazing your pieces are. Close up images of hand stitching, your signature on the bottom of a pot, or the texture of a painted surface are all ways to reinforce the quality and handmade nature of your work. No two handmade pieces are exactly alike. Show your customers that they are getting something fantastically unique.

Listing descriptions are a chance for romance. Woo your customers with fabulous words that describe the feel of your object. Give them a great first sentence that sums up what you love most about the piece. Write with a tone that matches the style of the piece. Is it playful? humorous? elegant? glamorous?

Remember to just be you! Create a product that you love to make and that you believe in. You just might have to make thousands over the course of many years.

Happy Valentine's Day - Customer Love

2011-02-14T19:05:00.000-08:00

She's like a little angel from heaven. Thank you so much to Chantal in Canada for making my day with this photo!

Just try not to smile when you see Poncho in his Beanzilla outfit, I dare you. Thanks very much to Ayumi Horie in New York for this fantastic photo!

Bean and Lily send all their furry friends big hugs this Valentine's Day, and as a special treat we are offering free shipping tonight with code BEANSHIPSFREE in our Etsy shop!

When a Hobby Becomes a Business

2011-02-14T16:52:00.000-08:00

When you post an item for sale online you become a business owner. I didn't really grasp this concept when I first started my Etsy shop, and I did not have a business plan, budget or much know-how about how to succeed as a small business owner. Once I started making money, serious panic set in as I worried about taxes, record keeping and how to make sure what I was doing was legal. Here are a few things to consider when your craft becomes a way to make a living.

Sales tax
If you sell things to people in your state you need to collect sales tax, and have a business license so you are authorized to collect sales tax. Your state's government website is the best place to find out how to get a business license and how often you need to file your sales tax with the state. When you sell at a craft show out of state you need to have a sales tax license for the state you'll be selling in, and then turn in that money to that state when they request. Some states only require you to turn in sales once a year, and others require you to file it quarterly. Many states require you to turn in a sales tax form even when your sales in that state are zero so make sure you are clear on your state's guidelines.

Open a Business Account
Opening a separate business account is a fantastic way of keeping things organized and will make monthly expense reports really easy. Plus, you won't be tempted to spend money you should be reinvesting in your new shop. It's also a way of proving to the IRS that your business is in fact, a business and will protect you in the unlikely event you are audited. Having a business account also gives you added credibility to customers, retailers and anyone who may invest in your business or provide you with a loan.

Record keeping
When keeping track of your expenses it's helpful to come up with a template. Each month I download the csv available on Etsy into Excel. You can get this file by going to Your Etsy>Sold Orders. Then select the month and year, scroll to the bottom and click download this report as a csv. I have columns saved in excel I can then cut and paste into the csv so all my monthly info looks the same. I break down income in sales from Etsy, wholesale and our website and then itemize all expenses. Each month I put total expenses, gross profit and then net profit into a separate document.

This document will be my annual report that we give to our accountant. She is fantastic at taking all of this information and turning it into savings for us. Don't forget you can deduct things like mileage, a percentage of your rent or mortgage if you have a home office, and travel expenses to craft shows. It never hurts to keep track of everything, and it will really help you learn where money is going and develop a budget.

Pay Yourself
My profit varies a lot from month to month, and the holiday season is much busier for me than the lean months in the middle of the summer. I now set money aside and pay myself a set amount of money each month no matter how much I make. This money comes out of my business account, and allows me to budget and make sure I can feed my family. This is easier to do once you've been in business for awhile and are able to project your annual profit.

I would love to hear suggestions about how you organize your finances! It's not easy for creative types with little or no business training to become the head of their own tiny empire, and sharing information has been a real help to us along the way.

Starting an Etsy Shop from the Bottom Up

2011-02-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

Zero hearts. Zero sales. These are scary numbers but they hold a wealth of potential. Sometimes potential is even more exciting than the reality of realizing your goal - at least, this is what I'm telling myself as I stare at those zeroes. Two and a half years ago I started an Etsy shop and my perspective was completely different. I was doing it for fun. I posted a few things and sat back and waited for something to happen. I was incredibly fortunate that within two weeks I had a sale. I wasn't relisting every day. I did create a few treasuries and still remember the rush of acceptance and validation when my work was included in my first treasury. I've learned a lot since then, but in a way I can see now what I was doing right.

1. I made something unique. I can't stress enough how much I would encourage you to strive towards creating something completely your own. Having been looking at shops on Etsy every day for several years now, I can pretty quickly identify who is creating their own identity as a handmade artist and who is taking bits and pieces of what they see other artists making. I get really excited when I find an Etsy shop that finally traces the source of a particular "trending item" back to it's original owner. I want the best. I want the original goods. Most customers do too. In the great words of Shelly Kennedy, Be Your Original Best.

2. We took good, simple photos. They were definitely not perfect but they looked professional and had a cohesive look to them. We were using brown butcher paper back then and daylight fluorescents in our basement. Oh, and we were using a pocket sized digital camera purchased in the year 2002. Yet somehow my husband was able to take this picture

and suddenly everything changed. People really liked this hat and a lot of people wanted to buy these, and that was unexpected and amazing. I was completely unprepared. I'll talk more next time about how I figured out how to make any money by pricing, buying materials in bulk and other general problems that arise when you didn't plan on starting a real business. More on my "oh crap, do I need to charge sales tax? am I going to get audited?" freakouts in my next post.

I would love to hear about your experiences starting up your own business? What piece of advice would you give yourself if you could go back?

A New Side of Beantown - Marcelle

2011-02-10T17:05:00.000-08:00

I love creating for dogs. I also love creating for people. So I decided to take an uncomfortable but exciting step and opened up a second Etsy shop. It's tough being back at square one. Zero hearts. Zero sales. I don't like the zeroes, but they represent a new opportunity, and I'm really excited about the chance to do some new things. Don't worry dogs, cats, pot bellied pigs and small ponies - I'm still going to be making you plenty of hats, sweaters and accessories. Beantown Handmade is still my fantastic full time job, but I'm going to shift a little creative energy towards this new project, Marcelle, in hopes of keeping things fresh and inspiring. I really hope you'll follow along.

The shop is a mix of handmade, vintage and my paintings and prints inspired by the colorful and kitschy collections of my grandmother, Marcelle. So if you are a fan of our designs for pets now you can have something similar (and human sized) of your very own. You can find both our new line Marcelle and our entire Beantown Handmade line now on our website. This blog will still be your one-stop spot for adorable customer photos, news about Bean and Lily, my life as a small business owner, and what's happening with Beantown Handmade. Thanks for all the great support and feedback we've gotten about our new adventures!

On Becoming an Accidental Small Business Owner

2011-02-10T07:59:00.000-08:00

In the past two years I've made over 500 dog hats. If you had told me five years ago that I would be designing outfits for pets I would have laughed and most definitely would not have believed it. But what an immensely rewarding experience it's been. What I've loved most about owning Beantown Handmade is talking to people about their love of animals, handmade and design.

What started as a hobby turned into an online business, which turned into multiple websites, wholesale and craft fairs. I didn't really plot out a road map or business plan, and it's all worked out pretty well considering I have no business background and my educational background is an MFA in Printmaking. Most MFA programs are great at helping you grow as an artist, but they don't teach you much about how to survive out of school. I feel very fortunate I've been able to make a decent living for myself by creating things for people (and pets) to enjoy.

Through a series of business-related posts, I hope to share the honest truth about what I've learned in the process of accidentally becoming a small business owner, and I hope that you'll share your creative and entrepreneurial successes and failures as well.
This blog is also a journey to document collections, colors, objects and other artists and designers who inspire me. It's a journey back to me, and not just about the face of my business.

Marcelle is named after my late grandmother, who was an avid collector of handmade, vintage and all things colorful and kitschy. As a child I loved peering under sheets and into cabinets in her house in Virginia to discover the treasures they held. These experiences had a big impact on my aesthetic and are part of what led me to become an artist.

Marcelle and me

Thanks so much for reading, and I'm excited to write more about my experiences in business, life and art.

Jo's Embroidery is Here!

2011-01-17T09:35:00.000-08:00

...and it is amazing! Last November we posted about the gorgeous embroidery British artist Jo Chambers created based on our photo of Bean in our Gretel hat. The embroidery is created on a vintage napkin, which is such an inspired and lovely addition to the piece.

She very generously gave this artwork to us and we are so excited to now have it hanging in a place of honor in our studio. The attention to detail is amazing and the interpretation of Bean's features is spot-on! I love living with this beautiful piece everyday and it is such a neat reminder that what we do stretches much further than our small Nebraska studio. Thanks so much to Jo for giving us such a wonderful gift. We will treasure it always. You can see Jo's fantastic drawings, paintings and jewelry on her website, Studio Legohead.

Embroidered Bean

2010-11-14T07:28:00.000-08:00

Jo Chambers of Studio Legohead creates the most beautiful drawn and embroidered portraits, many of which depict dogs in hats, so you can imagine how they are right up our alley.

Jo contacted me recently to share her embroidered study of our guy Bean in his Gretel hat.

Jo created this piece on her 1940's Singer Irish sewing machine - completely amazing! The detail is beautiful, and it's embroidered on a vintage napkin.

I so much appreciate when people who appropriate our images let us know, and I really love to see how others interpret our photographs. Plus, the fantastically generous Jo offered to give us this piece! Jo recently opened up an Etsy shop selling her wonderful images and one of a kind brooches. Please check them out and thanks again to Jo for sharing this with us!