Cupcaking

With Valentine's Day just around the corner, I thought it would be a great time to get all sweet on you and talk about one of my favorite things...cupcakes!

Nick and I will be in Florida (and not alone) on Valentine's Day, so I did my cupcake baking early. I kind of told you about these on Monday, remember? We've got one left to fight over tonight. hehe

Lucky for me, there's a new vendor at my local farmer's market for when I don't have time for baking!

Yes, imagine my delight when I saw the new cupcake girl setting up right across from me at the market back in December. I called Nick right away. I texted Jenn. I was so happy!

Tina is super nice and so are her cupcakes. The pink ones are vanilla cakes with the lightest strawberry frosting. Delicious. And the vanilla with vanilla buttercream are pretty great too. She's got pretty pink cupcake fabric on her tables too. A girl after my own heart I tell you.

It was Christmas time when Little Piggy Cupcakes arrived on the farmer's market scene, so Tina also had these adorable gingerbread cupcakes. Aren't the little gingerbread men cute?

I can't leave out the chocolate cupcake with chocolate ganache. Yep, it's as good as it looks. Sadly, I'm not selling at the market any more, but I definitely have a reason to shop there. And the best part is, we walk! It's okay to eat a cupcake if you have to walk to get it, right?

Check out Tina's website to see more of her yummy creations. And if you're ever passing by the Marin County Civic Center on a Sunday...stop by the market and say hi (and eat a cupcake or 7).

Farmer's Market Farewell

Last Sunday was my final farmer's market. I've decided to retire my tent for a while to focus more time on my monkey shop and to write some new sewing patterns. Nick and I are hoping to move to Seattle in a few months, and hopefully have a baby soon too. It was time to quit. My last day was right before Christmas so there were lots of vendors. It was nice to be able to say goodbye to everyone and pick up a few goodies too.

First, I got myself one of these adorable cashmere bears from Barbara of Gabby Goo. She calls them Wooly Bearz. This little bear is sooo soft and cuddly. I can't wait to have a baby to go with it!

I also picked up an adorable carrot from Jennifer. I've told you about my ridiculous love for fake food, right?

I feel very relieved now, not having to worry about filling my table. The only problem is what to do with the things I didn't sell. I guess I'll be spending a lot of time with my camera in the coming weeks to get these things online. If you make a purchase from iSew, you'll be getting something free in your package too (while supplies last). I've got lots of tissue cozies & magnets to give.

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Now I'm working on my long term To Do List. What are your big plans for the new year?

On My Table

Today's "On My Desk" post is 2 days late, haha. At least I'm consistent. I did the farmer's market yesterday so I had to show you what was on my table. My basket of tissue cozies, still full and neat. And one lonely monkey called Hermes. He's of the iPhone variety. I used to put the monkeys together in a basket, but they just weren't seen. I think people have a tendency to paw things in a basket more, so I just place them around the table.

And here's a little peak at what the new table skirts look like. They could be a tiny bit longer, but to save money, I cut the fabric in half lengthwise. They stay cleaner this way, no dragging on the ground. I'm very pleased with the way they turned out and I'm glad to be able to look at that gorgeous "Swell" fabric all the time.

On My Desk

This is what was on my desk on Monday morning. It's now been moved into the closet so I can get to work without being distracted by cuteness. I got these at Hart's Fabric (they sell online) in Santa Cruz this past weekend. What an amazing test of will power.


Here's what's really on my desk. A bomb blew up in my sewing room yesterday. I'm currently working on 3 different bags at the same time. A diaper bag, a quilted tote and a new backpack design. I've got a farmer's market on Sunday so I"m trying to stock up on some bigger stuff.

Here's how far I've gotten. They'll all be done this morning so I can get some bibs & zipper pouches made later. I'd love to finish my new table skirts too.

Lots of New Things

1. QUILTED TOTE - Flea Market, 2. GEMMA Coine Purse - Red Sock Monkey Portraits, 3. SHOPPER TOTE - Retro House, 4. SHOPPER TOTE - Natural Daisies, 5. LITTLE BOX ZIP - Chocolate Strawberry, 6. ZIPPER POUCH - Flea Market Lime, 7. PATCHWORK ZIPPER POUCH - Orange & Green, 8. QUILTED ZIPPER POUCH - Amy Butler French Wallpaper, 9. SARAH Handbag - Denim & Daisies

I had a very good day at the market on Thursday, which led to 3 days of sewing here in the sweat shop. I tried something new...I just made things. I tend to not only be a very slow sewer, but I think I spend way too much time in the planning stage. This past week I just went for it. I pulled out some fabric and made whatever popped into my head. I'm proud of myself for being able to make so much, and this isn't even all of it!

Guess who made their farmer's market debut?

I did well again yesterday, so it's back to the old drawing board later this week. My next market isn't until the 12th so I can rest a bit. I've got a big custom order I'm working on today for some Hawaiian shirts, a nice change of pace.

And later this week, maybe even tomorrow, I will be listing my first sewing pattern in the shop for this bag...

I've gotten some feedback from my pattern testers, so once I've made some tweaks, the pattern (and the bag) will hit my shop. This is something I've been planning for a long time so I'm really happy to have this little project almost completed. Now, I really need to get into the sewing room.

Take it Easy

I forgot to mention some other goodies I picked up over the weekend. I found my new table skirt fabric for my market booth (no, not the monkeys!). I'll use those monkeys to make a baby gift set & some bibs. They're so cute! I've got a market tomorrow, but I think it'd be crazy to try & get new table skirts made by then. I think I'll do something a little more reasonable. Like mail & fill orders, pay for my car insurance, pack up the car for the market. Nothing too ambitious for me today.


Yesterday I spent the entire day at the computer. I got my pattern all written out & pdf'd. It's now in the hands of some lovely ladies who've agreed to test it for me. I hope it makes sense! ha!

Here's what the kitties did while I was working. Must be nice.

And a quick thank you to Nick for giving me this as a wedding gift. What would I do without it?

Market Report

After 41/2 months off, I finally returned to the Farmer's Market scene yesterday. I had a few new things to offer, but I'm still pretty low on stock. The bounce house guys didn't show up so the traffic down the artisan aisle was very slow. We need those bounce houses! haha Anyway, I did alright (I sold one of the new bags I made last week - the blue & yellow one) and it was nice to get outside for a while. Thankfully it wasn't 100 degrees! The weather has definitely cooled down. My next official market date is the 29th, so I have some time to sew.


I'm hoping to make some new table skirts before the next market. I've been racking my brain about what color to make them so they don't scream "baby stuff" but still go with my logo and graphics. Then it came to me on Saturday morning. . . linen! Think of all of those great Japanese crafts everyone's always talking about. That nice, clean look. That's it! I'm not going to use linen, way too wrinkly, but I know I can get some nice clean looking natural fabric at JoAnn Fabrics and it won't cost me $12 a yard. I might add a little patchwork strip toward the bottom, that'll help weight them down & add a bit of color. What do you think? I've added this project to my To Do List.
After a market, I'm generally useless for the rest of the day, but it's not uncommon for me to run into my sewing room and whip up a little project before bed. Last night, after we had yummy ice cream and went shopping, I made myself a little passport sleeve. I made a muslin first, which I've only just started doing (I know, I know, go ahead and scold me), and then I made a for realz one out of some of my favorite scraps.

I think it turned out just right (here's the inside). If I make them for my shop and/or the market, I'll add a snap closure or something. Now I need to get to work, the morning is flying past me.

Get to Work!

I can't seem to keep her off my table. I go through a lot of lint rollers, let me tell you.

Remember the other day when I said I was going to walk to Michael's? hehe I didn't. I admit it. It's not that I'm lazy, I'm not. I just didn't want to take the time and it's REALLY hot here right now. It was definitely in the upper 90's yesterday. Gross! We were in here melting all day.
You will be proud of me however because I have gotten lots of sewing done this week. I go back to selling at my local farmer's market this Sunday (I haven't done it since right before Christmas!). My stock is seriously low, so I've been slaving away trying to get some things made for my booth. Here's a little peek at what's been going on:

Two new handbags. I'll list them in my shop after the weekend.

50 tissue cozies. All made from scraps. I haven't offered these at the market before, we'll see how well they do. I'm thinking low priced items are the ticket for me.

Oh, and I realized this morning that I never really showed you what my wedding dress looked like when it was finished. So, here's a somewhat blurry photo of us on the day.

I'm really proud of how well it fit me, I was so lucky with that. I'm not sure all of the beading I did was worth it, but I am happy with the dress anyway (Nick's tie looks pretty good too). And, I'm lucky enough to get to wear it again in September. Round two of wedding festivities will take place here for all of our UK folks that couldn't make it over for various reasons. This event will be almost no work for me. The restaurant does most of it and Nick's wonderful Mum is doing the rest!! Hooray! All I have to do is invites & place cards. Piece o' cake.
Have a great weekend, I hope it's not so hot where you live.

I'd Rather Be Sewing

Bet you thought I disappeared, eh? Nope, just on a little road trip. I started feeling really guilty today about neglecting my blog so I thought I'd let you join me on my trip. Nick has officially flown back to the UK for a business trip and I am in Orange County for a couple days. I'm just plugging away at the wedding plans while I can. Today I went shopping with one of my bridesmaids and we were able to get her dress and shoes! That's a great thing. Tomorrow we should have the other 2 settled along with my niece who will be a junior bridesmaid. I found some really great embroidered organza today in a very pale shade of blush that I may just get for my own dress. I still don't have a pattern, but I don't want to pass up the fabric. It's just so hard to commit!

After dress shopping tomorrow I'll be driving up to my friends' house to do some more wedding stuff. Hopefully I will secure a photographer and a group rate at the Best Western. I must get home to sew some new things for my market on Saturday. I'll be at a new location and I'm still really low on stock after the holidays. I've been working on monkeys so much lately that I've neglected my poor sewing machine.

These little guys seem to be the hot ticket now. I've had the monkey coffee cozies on my "monkey list" for a while but didn't make them until I opened the new shop. Even Nick likes these guys and he doesn't even "get" monkeys. haha. I'd love to get some more made while I'm away.

I guess that's it for me now. I should really get to bed. Long drive tomorrow. Some time in the next few days I'll tell you about my quilt fabric odyssey from last week and what I found.

Have a great week all!

Mass Production

I had this theory that I should make some more zipper bags for the market today. I thought it would be good to have more inexpensive items on the table for the Christmas shoppers. Turns out that I was right. I made four little makeup size bags yesterday and I sold two of them before I ever got to take any pictures. Here are the other two...

It's very exciting when I feel like I had a good enough day at the market that Nick & I can afford to go out to dinner. hehe Wonder what I'll make tomorrow.....

Fabric Addict

I was going to go into this long story today about selling at the market and a tutorial I had planned, but nothing's sounding good to me today. Instead, I'll tell you about some new fabric I came across today at the Fat Quarter Shop. I'm not usually a heart person, not at all, but Flirtations is just so cute. It's meant for Valentine's Day, but I think some of it would be great for Christmas. I seem to fall for every fabric line that Sandy Gervais designs for Moda. I just love her work. She needs to just stop. I cannot buy any more fabric! This is where I get my ideas though, so I shouldn't complain. Take a look at Moda's site, there are a lot of great things coming from them in the next couple months.
I'm a huge fan of April Cornell too, maybe because there are a lot of her shops up in Canada. I just finished a quilt using her Sunshine line (pretty much sold out everywhere now, it took me a while). How great are these colors? I used Warm & Natural cotton batting for this little guy and I really love the way it got all wrinkly after I washed it. It's kind of heavy too. It's got a great vintage look to it.
I think I could just shop for fabric all day, every day if I had time. And speaking of that, I need to rework my daily schedule. I decided to stop doing so many farmer's markets. Even when I have a pretty good day, it doesn't seem to be worth the stress. I spend every Saturday & Wednesday locked in my room from about 7am-11pm. I'm positive that the return is not worth the effort. I plan to take it easy a bit and work on custom orders & fun stuff too. I want to enjoy Christmas, not work myself to death. I have to thank Jenn for reminding me that there is a world outside of my sewing business. I would never take the time to bake something, or make something for myself. That's got to change. Please don't get too wrapped up in what you think you have to do, take some time for yourself. It's a lesson I've needed to learn for a long time, I'll keep you posted on how well I do, if I have time. ;)

Crying at Target

When I saw this post on Amy's blog, I had an urge to rush over to Target to get some new slippers. I was very strong though, I waited a whole day before heading out this morning for my monkeys. I went straight to the shoes, no monkeys. Looked around the Nick & Nora monkey pajamas, no slippers. Browsed the socks and finally came across these:

And right next to them, a very large area of empty space with lots of sock monkey slippers price tags. I was strong though, I didn't cry. Instead I took my little mary janes and was on my way. To tell you the truth, I prefer this style anyway, and they're in one of my favorite color combos. I'm not saying I won't get the slippers when they're in stock, I'm just happy with what I have. And on a side note, after living in the UK for a year I feel like a real dork in white socks. I rarely wear them now. Funny, huh?
As for crafting, I added a new Julie Bag to my collection last week. I used some more of my Look and Learn fat quarters. It got some views at the market on Sunday, but no takers. I'm really low on Gadget Monkeys these days so I guess that'll be my focus this week. (I finally finished my big custom order last night, yay!

p.s. To answer Jenn's question in her comment. I received thanks and photos for the Star Trek costume from Heck today. Here's what it looked like. He seems happy to me. There are some things I'd do differently if I had to do it again, but I wouldn't do it again. Not for a million dollars.

McBlog Post

Here I am at the computer at 7:00 o'clock at night & it only feels like 10:00. What's up with that time change thing anyway? I'll admit it was a lot nicer setting up for the farmer's market in daylight, but man it's been a long day. The market started out kinda bad today, but ended well. That new quilt I made is gone, all the new bibs and an old item from my website too. Not too shabby. Luckily I snapped a photo of the quilt early on so I have something to show you. It's not a great shot, but you get the idea. Those Look and Learn fabrics are so great, I'm going to order more and make another quilt.
I felt so good when the market was over that I actually took the rest of the afternoon off & took Nick to lunch. We had a lovely time and today was gorgeous, almost 80 degrees.
While I'm here, I thought I'd tell you about another coffee find. This one is a bit of a surprise. Yesterday, Nick & I walked over to McDonald's so I could try their new iced coffee. It was something like $1.79 for a huge vanilla coffee and I have to say, it was pretty good. Nice to know I can take a stroll over there when I need a break from the sewing machine. (The cookies are 3 for $1 too). Cool.

Productivity

It's amazing how much I can get done by just taking one day off from the farmer's market. I've been super busy and I'm actually seeing some results now. I'll try not to get too wordy with you, I'll just show you what's new with me.
First off, I finally got my Look and Learn Fat Quarter Bundle. I've been awaiting the arrival of these fabrics for a while. I got a quilt top done using these prints. I'm hoping I get the backing & binding fabrics in the mail today so I can get the quilt finished for the market on Sunday. Next I'll make a Catie Diaper Bag. I think this style looks best when I make it from the vintage kids prints. I'll make bibs from what's left. They sell pretty regularly at the market.

I also got a chance to use some Fall Back in Time prints. For now, this little bag will just be at the farmer's market.

For a long time I've been hoping to make some soft blocks to add to the shops. The other night, I took out some scraps & made up a prototype. I think the colors are great, but I'm not happy with the block at all. I much prefer the ones Amy makes (I love her shop), but I certainly can't copy them. I guess I just need to work on the edges. It's a little lumpy too. Makes a bright pin cushion anyway.
I've also been planning to add some baby gift sets. I've started offering deals on bibs & booties at the market, but half the time I don't have matching sets. That's not very good business, is it? Well, yesterday I made a new easier and quicker baby blanket that I can sell along with a bib & pair of booties. Here's the first set I made up with some fabrics I'd purchased to make a tote or two. The swirly print reminds me of The Muppet Movie (You know, the part when Dr. Teeth and the Electric Mayhem paint Kermit & Fozzie's car?)

I've got enough flannel to make 3 more sets to test them out on Sunday. I'm thinking about $40 for the set. What do you think?
That's almost everything, this post is getting way too long. You can always see my stuff on Flickr too if you're ever interested.
And last but not least...I finally got around to making a little Christmas ornament monkey. His name is Kringle & he's not in the shops yet. Just thought you might like to say hello. He's about 4.5" tall.

Not Much

I don't have much to report today so I thought I'd just share a couple things with you. First is what I love about the farmer's market. The market starts at 8:00am so I've got to get there fairly early to claim a good spot. One great thing about an early start is that I get to watch the sun rise. What a beautiful time of year this is too. Lovely.

I also wanted to show you one of my new bags. The design is nothing special, there are 1,000's of bags out there like this one. I'm just really glad that I finally put my Freshcut fabrics to good use. They've been sitting in a drawer for way too long. I love these colors!

This style will not likely find it's way to my Etsy shop, there are way too many like it over there. I might offer it on my website, but first I need a good name. I've plum run out of girls' names for handbags. hmmm.

Just bits

So, I'm really busy right now trying to restock for the Thursday market (and Sunday too) but I had to stop at some of my favorite blogs to see what everyone else is up to. I'm feeling terrible lately because I haven't had time to read all the blogs I like and leave comments. Sorry. :(
Anyway, I came across a couple interesting tidbits today. First off, there's a great interview with Amy Butler over on Quilter's Buzz. I know how people worship her, so I had to hip you to the article. And while I was scanning it, I found out about the Pacific International Quilt Festival. Umm, it's near where I live and it's this weekend! Hello? What rock am I living under? Sheesh. Now I really have to get cracking if I want to take a day off to go to a quilt Festival.
Speaking of things near my house...yesterday I went to check out a new yarn store I heard about. Turned out to be a great place and Christina the owner was as nice as I'd heard. She even asked if I'd like to teach a crochet class or sell my monkeys there. Cool! Even better, Christina told me about a quilt fabric store nearby that I hadn't heard of. Hooray! That means there's a decent sized one less than 25 miles away. I'm so happy. They didn't have much in the way of current lines, but I was able to get some great fabric on sale.
I picked up some pretty floral corduroy on sale at JoAnn's the other day too. I've already made a slouchy hobo/tote out of it for the market. It has an adjustable strap so it can be worn across the body or just over the shoulder. I'll try to photograph the bag tomorrow so you can tell me what you think. Hey, maybe I'll sell it!! haha
And just so you know I have actually been busy, I'll show you the last zippy pouch I made. It's only available at the market right now, no time for images & descriptions. Have a great Wednesday!

Back to sewing

I know I haven't been talking much about sewing lately. It's been really busy for me since I got back from the UK. I had a Farmer's Market Thursday and Sunday, both were good. I am enjoying the time out of the house and the opportunity to interact with live humans. I added some new products at the markets and have finally found the time to deal with some images so I can get things online too.
First I want to show you my new ponytail holders. I've been planning these for a bit, just hadn't gotten around to it. I don't intend to sell these on Etsy, the competition is ridiculous, but I sold 4 sets at the market yesterday. I like the idea of having different price points, and these are now my most inexpensive (notice I didn't say cheap) item at $5 a set. I printed my own little cards to attach them too, but my printer has been a nightmare since I got my new desktop computer. Just this morning I've aligned the print heads 6 times. @$&#%@ Anyway, I digress. The cards looked nice and I found these little doodads a great and fun way to use up scraps. I knew there was a reason to keep 3" strips of fabric! Ha!
I've been selling lots of bibs at the market too, so I've been making those like crazy. I went out to the fabric shop in Petaluma on Thursday to get some more of that cool Monkey'n Around fabric. I ended up with a few gnomes in the bag too. I don't know how that happened. Strange.
And speaking of fabric...I'm trying not to bore you too much with my wedding plans, but I think I may have chosen something as a starting point for the wedding. Naturally the color scheme is the most important thing on my mind. I can pick out a cake any day, it's the decor that I want to work on. lol I knew I wanted to find something a bit aqua/blue with a taste of red and I came across Shangri-la from Moda. What luck! (Misses Kwitty, you were right about your guess for this, but Nick would never go for rick rack) It's got all the colors I want and I think it'll suit a wedding perfectly. Here's a taste of a few of my favorites from the collection. The more I see it, the more I like it.Please, tell me what you think. And whilst perusing the new fabrics on the Moda website, I saw this. I think I'm gonna need the fat quarter collection, it's available for reservation at the Fat Quarter Shop already.

Busy Saturday

Remember yesterday when I said I had lots of new things to put in my shops? Well, here's all that stuff I was telling you about. I've got one of the totes listed, and that's it. I guess I'll get back to the computer after tomorrow's market.
Nick & I went off to Walnut Creek this morning to check out some rings. We were there about two hours before I was asked to disappear for a while. I'm not exactly sure what transpired, but I know we have to go back tomorrow to pick something up. I consider that good news. :) I'll let you know what happens when we get back from England.
Have a lovely Saturday evening, do something fun for me. I've got 13 bibs to finish and a car to pack for the market.

The learning curve

One thing I've learned at the Farmer's Market is that the audience is completely different from the buyers on Etsy and my website. I've mentioned before that I haven't sold any monkeys, the one thing I expected to sell there. After my 4th market, I've still sold zero monkeys, unless you count friends. Also, I've been selling bibs, which don't do well on Etsy. I assume that's based on availability though. There are millions of bibs on Etsy and I'm not giving mine away like a lot of people are. So be it. I'm finding the differences to be a good thing. I like that fact that I'm selling different things in different venues. It's great.
My first, second and third actual quilt sales have been at the market. I always knew quilts would be something people would want to buy in person. I find it very difficult to photograph quilts well too. I discovered recently that clipping them to the kitchen window in the morning works well. It's the best way to capture the quilt straight on and in good light. This one's my latest. I had a customer who wanted one for a boy, but couldn't decide on the ones I had made up. I sent her to my site to check out these fabrics and she loved them. I've had this quilt ready to go for a long time. I'm glad someone finally wanted it. I think it turned out really nice, and very soft.
Glad to know that it's worth my time to have bought all that fabric to make quilts & bibs. And just a little update on the credit card situation. So far, I'd have to say it's a good thing I signed up to take them. Since I put up the sign, all but two sales have been credit cards. The account has already paid for itself. Cool.
I'll be trying a new market location on Wednesday, Fairfax. This one is another new audience. Lots of mommies. It's in a park under a lot of really tall trees. One of my good friends is coming to town to join me, should be a great time even if I don't sell anything. Life is good.

Holly Hobbie and Coffee Coasters

How many people at the Farmer's Market are lucky enough to have a handmade original from Misses Kwitty? I ask you. I might just be the only one. lol I have to say thanks to Misses Kwitty here and say that my new coaster is the best. Look at it just collecting all of the sweat from my iced coffee. Fantastic! I must admit, one of my neighbors was having a great time picking on me all day because I'm so organized. She thought it was pretty funny that I even had a coaster for my drink. She obviously doesn't know about Etsy. I guess my booth is a tad bit organized and anal. I hadn't really thought about it. I don't want to soil my handmade matchy matchy tablecloths, do I? They're just jealous. If you're in dire need of a pretty coaster for your next craft show, check Misses Kwitty's shop, she makes the prettiest ones you'll find!!
I'd also like to mention my luck at the Farmer's Market yesterday in sitting next to Jennifer. She makes really cute onesies, t-shirts, blankets and baby slings. She even has a sling for dolls. Now that's clever. We're not really in competition, she's way more granola than I am if you know what I mean. But the best part about Jennifer, other than how nice she is, is that she uses a big Holly Hobbie doll to demonstrate the slings!!! Holly Hobbie! I was sooo into that doll when I was little. I've even got a little one packed away somewhere. I gotta dig that doll out and use her to demonstrate my kids totes.