Hey, how's everyone doing? I feel so cut off from the world these days. The wedding is now just under 5 weeks away...gulp. I'm actually not feeling too stressed about it all coming together at this point. I've been getting a lot done lately. It really helped when I decided not to worry so much about my Etsy shops until the wedding's over. What's the point in having your own business if you can't give yourself a break sometimes?
I hate to bore everyone with all this wedding talk, so I'm going to start with our new cookie jar, Clyde. Nick & I saw him at Target this weekend and we liked the monkey cups & napkin holder so much we felt like we'd better bring home the cookie jar too. (I think Nick is starting to "get" monkeys a little) It's a good thing they didn't have these, I'm not sure I could have resisted. Doesn't Clyde just make you want to eat cookies?
I actually got a chance to do a tiny bit of non-wedding sewing this weekend too. I sold this pretty bag to a pseudo-relative in England so I decided to whip up a matching zipper pouch. That red fabric was such a great find. Other than that, I've really only been doing wedding related crafting.
If you must know what wedding projects I'm finishing, I made all 6 neck ties this weekend. I even altered my old printed labels to reflect my upcoming name change (something I've been waiting for my whole life - no foolin'). Pretty good, eh?
I'm also well immersed into the construction of my dress. I made a muslin and have found that the pattern I chose fits me with almost no alteration. Great news! Now I have to cut into the pretty silk and lace. I'm a little nervous about that. I got a great book from Amazon that is giving me lots of tips on how to deal with lace. If you ever decide to make your own wedding dress, I highly recommend the book. Thank goodness I chose a really easy pattern. I'm not going to show any pictures of the dress, sorry, I want some things to be a secret.
And lastly, I came home today to find a very exciting box waiting for me. My friend Sue has finished carving my personalized cake topper. That's right. Nick, myself, Jody and Maple. So great to have something so personal. Hehe
Have a lovely week everyone. I hope it's as springy where you are as it is here in Marin. xo
After spending a lot of time away from home the last month or so, it's nice to be back to work. I spent at least half the day in my sewing room yesterday. I got a custom order done for this bag using fabrics I had on hand. My original plans for these fabrics were to make something for myself, maybe a quilted backpack, but I haven't gotten to it. I suggested these prints to a repeat customer and she loved them. I hope she likes the bag when she gets it, I think it came out really nice. I enjoy making this style, but it is very time consuming. While I worked on this version, I made a second one for my farmer's market booth and shops. I also whipped up a matching zipper bag, but I sold it today before I even got to take a picture. No complaints here.
Actually, I had a great day at the market today. I sold a few of my more ancient items and some new ones too. I'll be back at the sewing machine tomorrow, I've got several orders to fill. Just wanted to show off some of my new stuff. I've been working on a new monkey item as well. I was going to call them Monkey Keys, but they're not keys so, well, anyway. It's a mini Gadget Monkey Key Chain. I listed this one tonight, we'll see what happens.
I'll probably take my friend Jenn's advice and photograph them with something more gender neutral to show the size, maybe a key, I don't know. HeHe, excellent advice Jenn.
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.
Great color combo, eh? I've now cut the squares and have them laid out for sewing. I think it's going to be very cute when it's done. I should be able to make something cute from the leftovers too.
 |
| Provided by SEO guide. |
