Come on now, how cute is this?

I’m writing a little blog about indie business topics.

Care to see?

www.themakery.posterous.com

I’d love to hear your thoughts about it.  If you’re interested, email me at cottageinds at gmail dot com and suggest a topic!

This one’s been hanging around in my flickr favorites for the longest time.  I’m amazed just looking at it!  I’m trying to figure out how the quilter accomplished this loveliness…  A commenter clued me in to the fact that the quilt was probably constructed in 4 light sections, and 4 dark sections.  It must have required a lot of patience, a lot of planning, and a lot of passion.

This one, too, is equally fabulous.  I really like the geometric quality of it — and how the quilter made use of solid fabrics.  It’s funny, because as much as I am attracted to quilts with solid colors, I only seem to have printed fabric in my stash.  There’s a little disconnect there.  I think I need to remedy the situation with a trip to the fabric store to get some solids.  Any excuse to buy more fabric, right?

This beauty must have taken for.ev.er. to make.  And it was worth it, because it is one of the most stunning quilts I have every seen.  It looks like traditional flying geese — but I love the way that some triangles are squished, and some triangles are stretched to look like little pine trees.  And, I love how the groupings of colors make subtly defined shapes against the background fabric.

I’ll let you know when I decide which direction to pursue.  What’s your favorite?

I’m glad that I’ve had all this time to think about my inspirations.  I needed to spend a few days reflecting, distilling.  And what it boils down to is this: I am inspired by passion.

I am inspired by your passion for your craft, your cause, your calling, your creativity.  Passion makes my heart leap, my knees wobble, my smile broaden, my eyes crinkle in delight.

“Passion, it lies in all of us, sleeping… waiting… and though unwanted… unbidden… it will stir… open its jaws and howl. It speaks to us… guides us… passion rules us all, and we obey. What other choice do we have? Passion is the source of our finest moments. The joy of love… the clarity of hatred… and the ecstasy of grief. It hurts sometimes more than we can bear. If we could live without passion maybe we’d know some kind of peace… but we would be hollow… Empty rooms shuttered and dank. Without passion we’d be truly dead.” — Joss Whedon

Without passion, we’d just be going through the motions.  Living each day the same.  But passion compels action.  Passion keeps us motivated to keep achieving, to keep loving, to make each day better than the last.  Wouldn’t it be wonderful to always feel such boundless enthusiasm for life?

Passion helps me to be more creative.  Passion for what I do can give me the strength to tough out the hard days.  I need passion to drive me to work harder, to keep learning.

“Find something you’re passionate about and keep tremendously interested in it.”
— Julia Child

Thanks to all of you for sharing your passions and your inspirations with me.  Thank you for doing what you love — and sharing your love for what you do.  Thank you for telling that story.

That’s it for me, then.  Thanks to sfgirlbybay for dreaming up this grand idea, coquette and dove for posting before me, and covet chicago for continuing the story tomorrow.
If you’d like, please visit the other bloggers who are also sharing their inspiration today.  They are: bits of beauty, on montague, rhymes with chaos, feminine modern, style bust, just travelin’ through, the sweatshop of love, miel and company, wonderings and wanderings.

We were in such a celebratory mood this weekend after accepting the position at U of Louisville.  Which was just perfect, with all the holidays.

We kicked back and watched the Olympics, while I worked on a few custom commissions.  Isn’t this handkerchief cute? (Hint: When you whisper “elephant shoes”, it looks like you are saying “I love you.”)

I worked on Zach’s gift extra quickly to finish in time for Valentine’s Day.

I recieved this beautiful bunch of flowers, and spent the rest of the day admiring them.

These tulips are magical.  I can’t wait to see them unfold.

1. Etsy and the Culture of Cheap
http://craftmba.com/2010/01/19/etsy-and-the-culture-of-cheap/
This blog post over on CraftMBA.com has sparked an incredibly valuable discussion — every Etsy seller should take a look, and take time to read the insightful comments.

2. A Podcast About Free
http://www.craftypod.com/2010/01/31/craftypod-108-a-podcast-about-free-with-paul-overton/
I spent Friday afternoon listening to the wealth of podcasts at Craftypod.com.  This particular interview with Paul Overton of DudeCraft fame discusses how the abundance of free information available on the internet affects our creativity as artists and generativity as bloggers.  How can we use to concept of “free” to enhance our community and build our businesses?

3. Handmade Socks, Realistic Price
http://www.coriandr.com/item/5877/handmade-socks-realistic-price
I encourage you to read this post, if only to learn about the value of handmade. Do you think you’d still make sales if you priced your handmade goods this honestly?

4. How to Distinguish Yourself from the Mass Market
http://www.etsy.com/storque/how-to/a-different-thing-entirely-how-to-distinguish-yourself-from–6934/
This is the perfect article to round out the discussion.  This post lists practical steps that we as makers can implement to communicate the value of our handmade object to buyers who might not necessarily understand the care and effort that goes into making objects outside the system of mass production.

5. Our New Store
http://www.cottageinds.com
Just in case you missed it, we launched our new website this week.  We’re really excited about it — and we can’t wait for you to check out all the new items!

Have you read any interesting crafty bid’ness articles lately?  Post a link in the comments!

Okay first…this heart-shaped red velvet cake? Adorable, and for the truly ambitious baker.

In other news, Zach has officially accepted a position at U of Louisville, so we will definitely be moving there come graduation. We are just so happy to have our post-grad plans settled — and this whole application process couldn’t have resulted in a better outcome. Yay!

I need to remember this sometimes.  All of the time.

I made a bigcartel shop this morning.
I’m dying to know what you think about it.

I’m considering switching over here from another handmade marketplace *cough* Etsy *cough*. I’m struggling over the decision…
Any thoughts?