The New Look

Ok! Time for an update...

I have been thinking a lot, and finally tonight, after getting a Shop Critique from Michelle on Etsy, have confirmed my decisions...

OOAKbyADDesigns will no longer be my store on Etsy.. It will remain open for now until the listing either sell out or expire, BUT, there is a new shop!!!

The Daily Felting with A.D.Designs!

So my goal is to have a listing every single day for the shop...

Now ideas for the blog, if you have noticed the URL has changed.. ALSO, what has changed?

The layout is different.. eventually, when I have more followers I will open up advertising on the side where my etsy mini is, for 2x2 mini's to be purchased for advertising for like $2 a month or something.. not sure, figured I would cross that bridge when I get there :) But just an idea!

Also, calling all fiber artists!

I have been saying this and I think now, with the name The Daily Felting (I think the name is what got me pumped) I want to do a Weekly Featured Felting Artist. Any kind of felting process will do! :) I will have to think up a questionairre! Also, I hope to do this every day but I may miss a day here and there on the weekends..

I am going to try and post a new item every day for people to see here.. SO, if you are a felter of some kind, and would like an item to be featured here for the day.. Send me a Convo on Etsy!

http://www.TheDailyFelting.Etsy.com

The store isn't really set up yet, but feel free to convo me there! :)

Anyways, that's all for now.. still other changes are being made in the product listings, pricings, etc.. but you'll see them as they come! :)

For now I leave you with this picture I'm pretty proud of, I just think it looks pretty sweet.. it's my new listing in OOAKbyADDesigns.

MIA

So I went MIA for a quite some time..

What a week last week.. So I went to my parents house on Thursday.. Did A LOT of work I thought.. was all proud of myself, was on my way home, going to show my husband all the work I had accomplished.. and then...

5 minutes before I get home, I get in an accident... ended up t-boning some girl who tried to turn left in front of me to go to Burger King.. so, I ended up hitting her, not purposely of course.. slammed my brakes.. and then it resulted in both vehicles being total losses..

So then my weekend was pretty much shot.. Was at the emergency room Thursday until 4am Friday.. Friday I did go to my grandma's for pizza and her birthday though..was there all day, then Saturday all of the tenseness set in to my neck and back... so then the weekend, I pretty much lounged.. all weekend lol.

I was a great movie watcher on Saturday! I watched Legally Blond, Legally Blond II, AND Twilight.. I also finished reading Twilight yesterday which I am very proud of myself for doing.. Will continue on to read New Moon soon.. maybe start reading it tonight, we will see..

But in conclusion.. I was out of my little cycle of doing things.. and am slowly getting back into the swing of things..

I have great ideas in store for A.D.Designs! Which by my deadline, I have to finish by August 15th! Most items in my shop as of August 15th will come with their very own, Certificate of Authentication, signed by me! :). Exciting I know! lol.

But that is what I will be working on this week! And will keep listing things..

I also need to make more items because there is a Bazaar in October that I would like to attend, it is only a few blocks from my house, and only $30 for a table, so I think it is a good move to try and get into that bazaar!

Until Next Time... Happy Shopping! :)

A Quick Update

Well, took a couple days off, not purposely.. Had an incident with 2 nails in a board that went through my flip flop into my foot. Needless to say, it hurt, then I had to go get a Tetanus shot the next day.. fun stuff..

SO, currently what is new with A.D.Designs...

The Acorn Friends Collection for 2009 is now available! I will be listing 1 Acorn Friend each day until all 5 are listed :).

On Another Note.. I have my felting machine at my house now :) When I finish felting my current project I will take it out to my mom's house to sew it all up :).

It's going to be my new purse :)

That's just a picture of it in the process :)

What Is Needle Felting?

Some Articles Online Referring to Needle Felting :)

Needle Felting - A Beginners Guide To Felting With A Needle

Want to join in the fun craft of needle felting but not sure where to start? This guide will tell you what you need to begin your dry felting adventure.

1. First of all, exactly what is needle felting? It is a dry method of felting animal and other fibers. Using special needles, you punch the fibers down locking them together and forming felt. Pretty simple.

2. Supplies needed are few. You will need a dense foam pad (not styrofoam) at least two inches deep. You should be able to easily find some at a craft or material store. Start off your felting hobby with some clean, carded raw wool. You can find some by searching on the internet. A bamboo skewer (you can get a package of 50 or more at grocery stores for a couple of dollars) and/or toothpicks are good for helping form shapes if you are
making three dimensional characters. Lastly, a small pair of scissors for trimming.

3. What kind of felting needle should you buy? The most basic needle is an inexpensive 36 gauge triangle needle. This needle is used for general felting and is a good starting needle.

Gauge is the thickness of the needle. The lower the number the thicker the needle and the larger the hole it leaves. So a 36 gauge is thicker than a 38 gauge needle. The higher the number, the finer the needle and the smaller a hole it leaves. A 40 gauge needle is much finer than a 36 gauge needle and will be good for finishing because it leaves smaller holes.

The triangle shaped tip has three sides with barbs. The barbs tangle the fiber as you push down but not as you pull back out. You can, also, get a star needle. The star tip has 4 edges and a concave groove between the four edges. It has more barbs than the triangle and felts faster than the triangle.

As you advance, you will want different gauges and shapes to take your needle felting to new heights.

4. The last thing you will need is an idea of what to felt. You can felt flat pieces or three dimensional characters. Beginners might want to try a flat piece first just to get the feel of punching the fibers. A search for needle felting on the internet will provide you with some free projects to start. Once you get the hang of it, your own imagination will bring you many unique ideas.

To begin needle felting you need a few simple supplies, a special barbed needle, and an idea. What are you waiting for? It's a fun, creative, and inexpensive hobby so go ahead and give it a try.

Article from: http://ezinearticles.com/?Needle-Felting---A-Beginners-Guide-To-Felting-With-A-Needle&id=519545

Thank you to one of my friends on Twitter, for posting this next article first and the link to where it could be found :)

Needle Felting - How You Can Be Calm and Creative Felting Wool

It's hard to be calm in todays' fast-paced atmosphere. TV, computers, and video games stifle creativity by thinking for you. A needle felting hobby can be just the thing you need to calm you and allow your creative side to shine through.

What is needle felting? It is a dry felting technique. You don't have to use soap and water as in the traditional method. You use a special barbed needle, a foam pad, and raw wool to create wall hangings, pillows, three dimensional characters, and more.

The special barbed needle is plunged into the wool fibers. The fibers lock together and felt the wool. The beauty of using a single needle is that you have a lot of control over shaping and layering your projects.

How can needle felting be calming? Because the needles are sharp, you must pay close attention to your work. While felting your project, you are focused on what you are doing and this keeps your mind free from worry. As your mind disconnects from everyday problems, your blood pressure decreases and your body relaxes.

How can needle felting make you more creative? Just relieving stress will help get the creative juices flowing. With this art form, you use touch and sight to create projects which stimulates creative thinking. Felting with a needle allows you to experiment with colors and shapes. Experimenting helps you to be more creative because you never know the outcome until your project is finished. Layering wool provides you with the option of creating your own unique shapes and sizes.

If you try three dimensional felting, you can really let your personality shine through in the characters you create. 3D characters are fun and you can create critters only you have seen in your imagination. Making something you have imagined is the ultimate in creativity and, with a little practice, you can easily create characters.

Needle felting is an inexpensive, simple hobby to learn. Focusing on your project will have a calming effect. Relieving stress will get the creative juices flowing. Needle felting allows you to be creative with wool. Give needle felting a try and add a little calm, creative fun to your life.

Article From: http://ezinearticles.com/?Needle-Felting%97How-You-Can-Be-Calm-and-Creative-Felting-Wool&id=532431

My Intro

Well this will be a very LONG blog post.. but if you want to know about the artist this is the blog post to read!

My story... It all began on June 11, 1987.. the day I was born! LoL.

Well I can't remember the day I was born, but I can remember a lot of my child hood, which is pretty much my crafting background.

When I was growing up, back when you had nap time, always it seemed when the Price is Right was on, and then my mom would turn on golf because it was boring and usually made us go to sleep... that's how long ago.. I remember my mom working on crafts all the time. I grew up in the country, with 3 brothers.. at this time though, only 2. Zack came later on. So anyways, at this time, in the country, my mom stayed at home with us kids. She made crafts all the time, and on the weekends my parents would go to craft shows. My mom was into sewing, my dad worked with wood.

So many things were made in this house.. doll clothes, bears, sheep, tissue box sheep cozies, anything you could think of that could be sewn. In the garage... bird houses, bird feeders, lawn ornaments.

My brothers and I helped where we could, not often could we help with the sewing but when my dad was building, we were out there drilling holes in the front of the bird feeders, sanding feet to cat lawn ornaments that had a feather in the mouth saying "what bird?".. things like that...

This was my happy, content, ful-filling childhood experiences.

When I was 6 my brothers and I joined a 4-H group, and then a couple years later my parents decided to have their own 4-H group. Through all the years in 4-H we had animals, horses, and made crafts. We made wood crafts, fabric crafts, any kind of craft you could think of.

Many years of my life was spent making crafts as you can see. When I was 15 I started my first job, good ol' McD's! lol. Gradually I got out of crafts through those years. During high school I took some business classes, attended Bay Arenac ISD Career Center, took the Business Information Processing class, was an officer in Business Professionals of America both years, 1st as the Secretary, then my senior year as Vice President. I competed in the BPA Regional and State competitions for Prepared Speech 2 years, Global Marketing 1 year, and Advanced Office Systems & Procedures 1 year.

When I graduated in 2005, I then attended a community college in the Fall. I planned to be an Accountant. Started out with 7 different classes, attending 2 classes a night, 4 nights a week, after work. Big mistake! lol. Talk about an overload. Accounting, Economics, Math, Step Aerobics, Lifelong Wellness, Desktop Publishing, and some other class.. it was a long semester.. When I started college, I didnt receive any financial aid, so my mom, knowing I was interested in business and such, decided we would start a partnership. A&K Gift Gallery was born! I started by having this HUGE home party. Which actually consisted of 3 hosts, and was held in a banquet hall. I sold Home Decorating items.

In the fall of 2008, my mom shows me this tv show, where they showed a Felting Machine. I was in love... so then, I went out and bought one.. needless to say, I unfortunately did not use it much yet.. HOWEVER, a week later, after buying this machine my mom introduced me to single needle felting. I then found my calling. It was the one thing I loved to do.. which introduced me back into the craft world. I started making 3D sculptures, and from then kept adding to my collection. I started selling items on eBay and was REALLY excited when I got my first sale. I named by business A.D.Designs. We then decided, A&K Gift Gallery, would no longer sell home decorating items. No more manufactured items for us. My mom already had her business, T&K Country Treasures and now that I found my niche, we could sell ONLY handmade items.

A.D.Designs - One-Of-A-Kind Needle Felting Sculptures. I hope to one day add on and start making OOAK designs with my felting machine. Purses, Bags, Pillows, etc. But for now, It's single needle felted sculptures.

One day, I needed some beads for eyes for a needle felting sculpture. My mom and I went into the bead shop and this lady told us about how she loved Etsy and how much she didn't like eBay so her and another person made things and sold them all on Etsy. My mom and I decided to check it out. I found my eBay store wasn't worth keeping open for as many products as I had, it wouldn't be profitable. So I then opened an Etsy store. OOAKbyADDesigns had joined the Etsy Community!

My mom joined Etsy under T&K Country Treasures and had success not long after!

I then opened up A&K Gift Gallery on Etsy as well, for all the things I made that didn't fit into my Needle Felting theme under OOAKbyADDesigns.

Just yesterday, I also had my grandma join Etsy! Puppets by Margie! She has been making and selling her puppets for over 40 years now! She is very please with Etsy and was happy to see how many views she already had this morning, and even had an item hearted!

But anyways, that leads us to now...

While all of the eBay and Etsy happenings were happening.. I recently was married, on May 30, 2009. Left my Insurance Agent position at a small agency in Auburn, and now work from home full time. :)

So, if you made it this far in the blog post, thank you for staying and reading it all! I know it is quite scattered and VERY gramatically incorrect... however it took about 4 different sittings to finish the first blog post! For now on, the rest will be shorter! lol.

Until Then, Happy Shopping!

~Alicia Marie~

Welcome to My Blog!

Just a quick update!

I now have A&K Gift Gallery back up and running! Yay! It's exciting!

OOAKbyADDesigns is up and running on Etsy! Another Yay! Also exciting! lol.

And tomorrow.. I will write more in each blog, possible if you check out the blog for each business you may from time to time see the same blog post written.. just for the shoppers who read one blog but not the other. But product info will remain within the correct blog :).

Tomorrow I will write more of an intro since they are both pretty new blogs.. :)

Until then.. Happy Shopping!