A new kind of bag

Yay, another item I can share with you guys finally!

I made this bag for Jennie Ingram incorporating as much of her loves and interests as possible. I had so much fun making it. It was really refreshing coming up with new ideas for patches that center around a specific person, and I really really hope I can get the chance to do it again (*hint hint* to anyone who wants a custom bag).

Some themes captured in this bag: Harry Potter and Doctor Who (of course), steampunk, tea, celtic knots, flying keys and clocks, art nouveau, crafting, etc. Even with all the different themes I think the bag becomes a cohesive unit and I love it!

New Fat Quarters to the shop...soon..

A few need pictures taken again to capture the colors better...but in any case...

I've made a HUGE mistake!

I gave this awesome wall hanging away! What was I thinking?!











If you don't recognize the quotes, this is inspired by the hilarious show that is Arrested Development. I've only recently become a fan, but I would highly suggest the show to anyone who loves to laugh.

Rambles and Teases

I think the past week and a half has been my longest radio silence yet, and I do apologize! I have the supreme luck every so often of clicking on just the wrong thing and screwing up my computer utterly. But I do have a boyfriend that is very handy with computers and computer problems and he's helping me to fix this issue. But in the meantime I had to drag out my old dusty laptop that had sat alone in a box for years, and thankfully it seems to be holding up ok.

In any case, life has been a blur of a lot of working as of late, with a bit of crafting and creating spiced in. Still not a whole lot I can show you until the projects in question are received but I can tease with some macro shots that pretty much in no way reveal the end product. =)







I think I'll probably be very productive this week and I'm planning on mailing some stuff out so you'll be able to see full project pictures soon!

Tuesday night ramblings

It really kind of sucks to not be able to share all the awesome projects I'm working on now with you guys. Just keep in mind that awesomeness is definitely coming to a blog post near you! In other news, I did my first craft show with Nicole last Saturday and it was a lot of fun. I managed to scramble together a decent set up and here's how my side of the table turned out..

I found an peculiar little doll bed frame that turned out to be perfect for displaying my printed Fat quarters. A little bit of spray paint later, it was ready to go.



I also scored the most awesome business card holder at the same thrift store that was completely made for me.



(I'm not sure what the pink theme is all about. I am so not a "pink" girl but it keeps turning up!...Oh well, I kind of like it.....a little.)

And a close up of my Fat quarters all laid out. About half of them are brand new and will start popping up in my etsy shop as soon as I can get a moment to get all the pictures organized and get listings made.



I have more screen printing plans in the future, with ambitions for multi-layered prints!! Let's see how ambitious I can get. =)

List making time!!

It boggles the mind how much I have to try to do this week. So to try to organize my thoughts, and hopefully give me a little method to my madness I'm going to make a list of everything I need to do before next Saturday. Why Saturday......wellllll, I've been invited to sell at a local craft show!! Nicole of the ever-talented Curious Goods and I were supposed to hang out but she got the opportunity to vend and being the sweetheart that she is, she invited me along to hang out and put some of my stuff on her table with her!

In response to this I said of course immediately. It's awesome. But my mind has been blown with all of the elaborate set ups you can create to display items...and I only have a limited time to pull this off. Definitely a trip to the dollar store is planned for today, and possibly to Joanns....

So list...

1. shirts, bags - Need price tags - my boss at work has a giant room dedicated to her crafting and she offered to let me borrow some of her punches so I'll hopefully get that tomorrow at work and then punch and stamp and decorate away so that I can put them on the bags and shirts I'm bringing.

2. cards - I need cellophane envelopes to put them in so they look a little nicer. When I package them to ship out from my etsy I do have bags for that but it wouldn't look quite as nice when selling the cards individually as the bags are too big for that.

3. art prints - I have quite a few smaller sized art prints that are good to go but I need to get some sort of display stand to denote how much they cost.

4. FQS - I am almost done with a massive effort to make a bunch of new FQs. At my count now I have over 20 and I have 3 more designs at least that I want to do a couple of. So those need to be finished, washed, edges cut, ironed and then comes the big question: how do I display them? I thought about trying to imitate FQs you'd buy in the store wrapped around a piece of cardboard...but I think I might just fold it up neatly and then have a paper wrapper to go around the whole thing with my logo and washing instructions on it......I'm not sure. We'll see what it looks like when I do a mock up.

5. pouches - I need a container of some sort since these don't have a strap I could hang them up with. Probably a basket or whatever looks good at the dollar store.

6. business card holder - or something of the sort to put my business cards in...I know we have extra to spare at work, but those are so boring...still thinking on this one.

7. logo banner - I'm so happy and relieved that I already made this item. In the back of my mind I always thought it'd work out well as a display banner if I ever started to vend at craft shows. I do need to finish it though - the edges are still raw and I need some way to hang it or tie it up. And I can't get the thought of some pompom ribbon sewn to the edge of it. We'll see if that wins out.

And this list doesn't even count the 3 or 4 projects I'm knee deep in the middle of that I need to have finished by the end of the month! I decided that on the days that I work (which tend to be the days I'm more likely to slack off and do nothing just due to being tired) I am determined to at least accomplish an hour or two worth of work towards these projects just to try to make a little progress. I'd like to think I'm pretty good when under pressure of a deadline.

Wish me luck!

I must be getting old

I spent the day slowly hurting every part of my body which is a bit unfortunate as I lay on the couch now, my back refusing to relax and uncramp. Why, you ask? Let's see, I'm getting back outside as the weather is getting nice (FINALLY) to walk/jog which is making all sorts of muscles rebel, and screen printing for a good portion of the day takes its toll. Oh yeah, and then piecing together a patchwork bag for a fantastic lady which unfortunately requires me to sit on the floor for a good while bending over painfully. I swear I used to have a body that didn't complain so much. In any case, I offer pictures!

I know I said before that I seriously need to restock my shop and the first thing on my list is Fat quarters. I got a few done today, though not as many as I'd like. I left everything out and ready to go so I can hopefully do some more screen printing this weekend. I have a few new original prints in the works as well. I'm curious to see how those sell.

On the drying rack..



And a hint to another print I will hopefully be debuting soon...



I wish I could share more but pretty much all my projects on the go are surprises for some crafty friends and I don't want to spoil it here if they're reading. Til the next time!

What to do with awesome Fat Quarters

Over the last year of making Fat Quarters for my etsy shop, I've gotten some pictures back from customers who were nice enough to share the projects they've made from them.

You can make bowties...



Or a fun little bag..



A dear friend made some awesome one-of-a-kind pouches that show off the prints so well.





Most recently, someone made a cute bag with my Silence print.



This makes me want to make more FQs...or rather, I really should get on it considering my stock is getting a bit low. I think I'll be having a screen printing day sometime very soon.

E is for Edward who wore Fabulous Furs

And while I've read a bit about Edward Gorey, I still am not sure why that is...I guess he just really liked furs.

In any case, I did an Edward Gorey themed swap on craftster on a whim. There are super awesome artists participating and I have always loved Gorey's macabre quirky style. When I got my partner I was a little stymied because she wanted pretty much practical items, and while I am totally on that bandwagon, I think my talents tend to lie in making non-practical, art stuff. So I thought...and tested my sewing skills! and then planned and executed!

I decided for my first item to do an embroidered hoop since my partner was starting a collection for her wall. I sketched a few children characters and made small changes and did a little Gorey-esque type scene. Hopefully you can see my attempt at shading with the floss.





My favorite little girl. Of course she's the one with the scissors.





The next item I thought would be fun so my partner can pretend she is a Gorey character! Or is it just me that thinks that's clever and funny...in any case the yarn was super soft to work with, though changing colors every 5 rows was a pain and slowed down my crocheting speed significantly.



And lastly, the thing that took the most planning and forethought and preparation - a screen printed tote bag! The tote bag I posted about a few weeks ago was a practice run for this. The image, I think, is quite fitting, as my partner said she loves to read, so book bag it is.





Now to go about figuring out what was up with the furs? Anyone know?