Custom Roller Derby Team Necklaces

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If you've been following along for a bit, you know I'm a retired rollergirl. My very good friend and I founded the Jet City Rollergirls league in 2006.

It was one of my best life choices. We created a community of camaraderie and inclusion. Especially within our own "home" teams. My team is the Camaro Harem. The "Harem" celebrated a championship victory this season.  

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The captains wanted to give a season end gift to the team and asked me to help by creating team necklaces. 

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My former teammate saw the necklace I had on at a bout and thought it would be a good season end gift. 

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We're not huge fans of using acrylic because of the smell that it creates when it's cut. But it is a must for certain projects. I personally added chain to each necklace so the total length was approximately 20" inches. Not too long, not too short. 

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John designed the stacked layout with a Harem star, because it was just too long to put on one line. Plus the font was much smaller. This stacked version is easy to read and looks really great and similar to the team's current logo. 

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I absolutely loved this project, I love how they turned out. Of course it was close to my heart and very special. 

Lasers and love - Thea 

Weekly Menu Chalkboard Weekend Sale!

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Earlier today, I started my weekly task of planning out our weekly menu. Sometimes it's more of a taxing task than I'd like it to be. If you're someone who is in charge of this task, you know what I mean. 

6 by 6 Arts | Weekly Menu Chalkboard

It can feel mundane or frustrating even because sometimes it's just hard to plan.  

For me, I have to do this. Normally, I have four individual schedules to work around. And for me, I really like to avoid the last minute decision of what to eat. It usually ends up being expensive, something that I don't really want and probably unhealthy.  

Our weekly menu chalkboard is my absolute favorite thing we've created. Sure, I love our "We Hate Everything Together" stuff, but I use our menu boards every week. I am able to create my grocery list based on my menu plans.  This helps me not starve my family. Or want to strangle them when I'm asked 40 times a day "What's for dinner?". Bonus! If there's a clear laid out menu plan, anyone available to cook is empowered to do so!

6 by 6 Arts | Weekly Menu Chalkboard

So with Mother's Day on the horizon, I've knocked $5.00 off the normal price for just this weekend only!!!  

Sale ends 4/30/17 11:59pm PST.  

Grab one for mom, your roommate, yourself or your best friend! 

Lasers and love- (and Tacos on Tuesdays! 🌮) Thea  

Spring Cleaning

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Twice a year I have to basically strip the work areas down to the bare bone (tabletops). There are two times of the year where I am the busiest. The first six months immediately followed by the last 6 months. KIDDING! Sort of. If you've been following along you know that I have two businesses. One business is super busy during "wedding season".  March to September are the core times for me with that. 6 by 6 flourishes during wholesale reordering times, which is all the time but there are particular stock up times for a majority of our buyers and the holiday months. We just know that we'll sleep when we're dead during the holiday months. Makers have a joke that we'll sleep when it's pajamuary (January), after all the holidays have passed. 

If you've ever been around creative makers while they are making, you know they tend to be messy. I'm hella messy when I'm working. I have piles of fabrics, wood, paint, papers and more in my work areas. I get into a groove and become a working machine. I don't want to put stuff back when in said groove! So some areas become disheveled and require some extra tidying up. 

6 by 6 Arts workspace

We've had a few recent requests to be filmed/photographed in our workspaces, which is basically our entire home. So we had to do our spring cleaning a bit earlier than normal. I always love the clean slate of tidied up areas and it usually lasts a bit. I don't want you thinking that we live and work in a pig sty. We are maximalists, so we have a very full home but it's really not as cluttered or dirty as I make it sound. For me it was mostly the pressure of showing our workspaces to the world. It's intimate, personal and a brutally honest look into our life, especially since we work from our home. Whenever, I invite someone over, I want to make them feel welcome and not overwhelmed. There's a lot to look at in our home. Our kid's friends love being here because it is "homey".

Thea's desk area

I've been trying to remember to share little peeks of our home on Instagram. We do decorate and incorporate our own products around our home. We're our own product testers obviously and I know others like to see how we use them. Is there a product of ours that you'd like to see in action? Let me know in the comments and I'll make it happen.

As always- thanks so much for reading!

Lasers and love - Thea 

Solitude in the Snow

Admittedly, I've been disconnecting on social media recently. I've been using my time behind the scenes to put effort into things that mean something to me and my family as a whole. With our sarcastic and snarky products, it's hard to believe that we're all a bunch of "Pollyannas" at heart.  We are and we believe in good.

Snow day 2/6/2017

Snow day 2/6/2017

Today was a forced reminder to unplug, clear our minds and enjoy the moment. Focus on the important and meaningful things. No power, no school and family time in the snow.

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  I don't want to get too political or go into "parent mode", we do make snarky stuff for a reason. We're just silly laser cutters in the PNW when it comes down to it. But it's nice to unplug, refocus and refresh. We hope you all are able to do the same for yourselves.

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Because no one should really want to punch their cousin over they're dumb social media posts.  😏

Lasers and love - Thea 

2016 Holiday Markets

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Want to shop with us in person? Mark your calendars those opportunities are right on the horizon!

We're looking forward to vending in Seattle for the first time and really looking forward to our return to Crafty Wonderland in Portland! 

Hope to see you there!

Lasers and love - Thea 

Work, work, work, work, work.

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Hi! We've been working up a storm behind the scenes. The college babes are descending upon our homestead this evening and I've been baking up pies and other goodies in between jobs.

I've been organizing our inventory for upcoming shows and I keep happening upon prototypes and discontinued pieces. I found one prototype that I was particularly excited about creating. 

Circus Font Letters

Many laser cutters offer monogram and basic wood letters. They usually come in the standard fonts. When we received requests for similar jobs we really wanted to offer unusual fonts. I'm not a fan of clowns, but I am a huge fan of circus style fonts and typography. I hoped that someone shared that love and would be inspired to create themed display with our pieces. Manufacturing jobs pushed this project to the side but I still had our prototypes. 

With the holidays upon us, I thought I'd post this full circus font alphabet set for sale for any families that get inspiration for home decorating before friends and family come for visits.

This full alphabet set features 26 pieces of capital letters in circus font. They are 3.5" inches tall with varying widths from 2" to 5.5" depending on the letter.  They are an 1/8" inch thick and are made from birch plywood. Extensive engraving time was needed to achieve this great look. Each one has been lightly hand sanded. 

There is only one set available so get it while you can!

The listing for this set is available over at our Etsy Shop. 

Lasers and love - Thea 

Winter Shows!

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Ack! We're so excited to announce that we will be vending at two large craft shows this winter season! We wanted to do a few more shows and will be doing one private event in mid December, but there is only so much time on the calendar. So we had to choose wisely and hoped that we got picked and we did!

Our first show is a month away! We will be vending at our first ever Seattle craft show - Urban Craft Uprising. I (Thea) am no stranger to this show. I've been a vendor in every single UCU show up until this one. But I am more than excited to be bringing my new company to the show. It's fun to mix it up a bit. This show is so much fun! There's even a Preview Night and for the first time ever there will be adult drinks! Preview night is December 2nd and entry is by ticket only. For more information about Preview Night check out the link here. 

Details about the open to the public show are available below - entrance is free! 

After a super fun weekend in Seattle, we will be heading down to Portland for our return to Crafty Wonderland's Holiday Art and Craft Market!!!

Crafty Wonderland will also be hosting a ticketed First Pick Pre Show Party. More information about tickets are available here. 

Details about the open to the public market is below and entrance is free!

www.craftywonderland.com

We are so excited to be vending at both of these shows! We're excited to meet with new and returning customers and catch up with our fellow makers too! 

Mark your calendars and start making your lists! Both shows are unique and have their own vibe. I can't recommend them both enough!

Lasers and love - Thea 

At home with 6 by 6 - Domestics and product development.

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As you know, we work at home. Once upon a time when I worked at a corporate accounting firm I dreamed about being able to do this. No more long commutes, spilled coffee in my lap in the mornings and rushed lunch breaks. 

Waking up and strolling down the hallway "to go to work".  Having a fresh pot of coffee all to myself. (In our case, John and I share.) It all sounded like a dream and I have personally be so fortunate to work from home for the past few years with my other business.

View out of our kitchen window while we cook. 

View out of our kitchen window while we cook. 

My fellow work at home self employed friends know that "dream" is not that simple. While our commute is just a few doors down the hall or down the stairs depending on what stage of production we're in, we do have a rigorous schedule to get things done. 

When the shop is too cold for things to dry in we bring them indoors. Which usually means our dining room or kitchen room table. 

When the shop is too cold for things to dry in we bring them indoors. Which usually means our dining room or kitchen room table. 

I'm up bright and early before the sun (which is a huge challenge for me because I am very much a night owl) with my kids to usher them out the door every morning. I then guzzle down a cup of coffee, not out of tiredness but for comfort and begin the work day. Often I have to take domestic breaks during the day to do mom things. Then I pick back up after dinner or into the late evening. 

During the late evenings I do a lot of design work. Lots of drawing and arranging ideas for product development. I doodle all day but late at night I've collected a lot ideas during the day and have time for them to resonate in my brain and I'll flush out ideas on paper. That way they'll be ready for John to critique and provide feedback on the following the day.

A vintage metal wire basket that I'll be repainting for a show display containing our small 8-bit heart magnets. 

A vintage metal wire basket that I'll be repainting for a show display containing our small 8-bit heart magnets. 

Our home also becomes one big workspace. Aside from the designated work areas when things are going, things spill all over into all sorts of areas around here. It can be a little frustrating at times, especially when the kids want to have company over. But we make due until we hit the next accolade - a designated shop.

I wanted to share a little insight on how we work at home, we've had a few friends ask us how we do it. 

Lasers and love - Thea