On My Desk February 25, 2009

I've been very slack in my On My Desk duties. Sorry about that, but I'm back with a few things in my sewing room today.

I made a tote bag for a friend using an old tea towel, leftover fabric from her son's quilt and a tablecloth. Way to reuse, eh?

I have two fabric zipper pouches waiting to be assembled and one monkey pouch waiting for his lining and zipper. I tend to put off monkeys with zippers. I still haven't come up with a great way to put a zipper in a crocheted item so I always spend a long time trying to work out a new method. Any ideas?

And this is my little bobbin and needle box combo. I use old electrical tape cases for my needles. They're a good size and the lid snaps on tight. It just happens to fit perfectly on top of my Bobbinsaver too. I don't know why I never got one of those before. It's great! It's rubber, so it sits still and the threads don't go all crazy on me. Yay!!

Now I'm off to finish dinner and make some more monkeys. Cheers!

On My Desk - January 7, 2009

Hey! It's my first On My Desk post of the year...cool. Here's what's on my cutting table today...

I had a few bibs to make for orders. Too bad I can't sell the ones that are already made, haha. Perhaps if I get them listed in my shop, hmmm.


I made two new monkeys last night. Marsha and Sebastian. Marsha is monkey #550!!! Wow, and she's already been adopted. Goodbye Marsha.


(click this image to see how great the quilting is)
I've got some binding to do. Unfortunately, my shops are busy today so I'm going to have to get to this project tomorrow. The quilting was done at a shop with a long arm quilting machine. I wish I had one of those.

Aren't things supposed to be slow this time of year?

On My Desk

Here's what was on my desk today...

I had a custom order to make for the farmer's market tomorrow. Just sayin', it's gonna be in the 30's when I get there....I can't wait for that! Maybe next time I'll show you what the bag looks like.

I made myself a yummy cuppa decaf. Yes, I like whipped cream and sprinkles on my coffee. Don't you?

I can't wait to try some recipes in the new cookbook I bought last night. There are some good ones in there just calling my name.

I may start with this one. Chocolate + Caramel + Butterscotch = yes please!

This Sunday will be my last farmer's market (yay!) and then I can really start thinking about Christmas and crafty things I want to do for myself and baking and lots of other fun things. Cool.

Pretty Much On My Desk

I guess almost anything could be considered On My Desk appropriate, so I'm just going to give you a taste of what's going on around here right now.

Some magnets-in-progress for a great customer. They just need the magnets!


Monkeys! Yesterday was the biggest monkey day ever for my little monkey shop. Was it International Monkey Day or something?


A new diaper bag in the works. This one's has been planned for months and months. I'd love to get it done today some time.


Some day, I'll have a few shelves in my sewing room just filled with adorable pin cushions! I just got these two from Up The Creek. They're tiny, cute and way under-priced. They'll look great with this one, and this one.

Now I need to get back to my sewing and cooking and listening to this cool station online.

Packing and Shipping

While taking the photo for this week's On My Desk, I thought it might be a good time to show you how I pack my orders and try to stay organized.

Here's a look at some monkeys getting ready to move to their new homes. I generally try to ship several orders at once. I like to lay out all the bits & pieces I'll need before I get started.

I got a set of drawer organizers at Target to hold my labels, tags, business cards & such. This is much easier than grabbing things one at a time from my shipping supply drawer. Now I just pull out the tray and everything's right there. For each order I need a business card with a pinback button, a little tag with a handwritten thank you note, a return address label and a shipping label (I keep those ina drawer near my computer). It's quite a lot of work to send those packages out the door looking nice.

I use kraft tissue from ULINE to wrap my monkeys and baker's twine to tie them up. I also get my padded envelopes from ULINE, they ship really fast.

I print all of my own labels and tags myself. This is easy for me because I design my own graphics. I use 8.5x11" sheets of sticker paper from Avery to make my address and shipping labels & recycling stickers too. Check out the Avery website, you can design and print your own stuff online. The only thing I don't print or make myself is my business cards and pinback buttons (I let the professionals handle those items). I keep all this stuff in a small dresser in my sewing room. I got some inexpensive sleeves to help me separate everything. One for iSew, one for Monkey Travel Club and one for my fun colored papers.

My punches & tools live in a plastic shoebox that's stored in a cabinet under my cutting table. (How do you like my girly pliers? haha) I have my own set of tools, that ensures they stay clean (and where they belong!).

I've started to make some little gift tags to include with my Etsy orders. I try to buy paper that's fairly generic (although I couldn't resist those Chrismas trees). I've got some for every day orders too. I find the paper punch works better on heavier papers.

So now you know all of my secrets. Enjoy!

On My Market Table ... The Extended Version

I had a farmer's market yesterday. It was 100 degrees when I left at 1:30. I thought I was going to pass out. Luckily I had an iced coffee and a gallon of water. Phew! Heat is not my favorite.

Last weekend, when we stayed at my friend Larry's house, I found this wonderful surprise waiting for me. Larry's wife Janace works for Stampin' Up. She saw this set in the catalog and somehow knew that I would like it. Yep, she was right. Whenever I go to their house I look through that catalog about 4 times. I love that stuff and I'm not a scrapbooker. Wait till you see what I ordered, teehee. (Thanks Janace!)

And when we got home I found 3 boxes waiting for me. One was this lovely little travel pillow that Jenn recommended.

It's so pretty, isn't it? I love the colors and the lavender scent is so yummy. I got it from Mireio on Etsy. She's got some more pillows in her shop if you're interested. I'll be using mine on the 11 hour flight to London in a few weeks.

If you're wondering what was in the other two boxes, umm, it was fabric. Surprise! I know, I know, it's an addiction. I haven't taken any photos yet, but I did use some.

I'll be able to add a new quilt to the shop soon.

On My Desk - August 20, 2008

Are you surprised to see monkeys on my table? Probably not. I'm working on a few custom orders right now, but I'm also trying to stock up a bit.


At the back of the table is a project for my cousin's son's 1st birthday this weekend. I plan to make a set of soft blocks to spell his name (Mark). You might remember him from this post. He's still super cute and doing quite well considering all of the medical drama he's been through. Nick and I are heading down to Orange County on Friday for the event so I better get sewing!

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

You'll always find a collection of DVD's in my sewing room. I like to listen to films while I'm working. Not only do we have way too many DVD's of our own, but I get 2 from Netflix. Right now I have some episodes of Road to Avonlea waiting to be seen. I'm a huge Anne of Green Gables fan, so this series is one of my favorites.

And yesterday I received several orders for custom monkeys. (I guess monkeys are back in fashion, haha.) Here are a few of them awaiting their photo shoots.

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.

On my Desk #2

A little late again this week, but I took the photo on the right day. That's something.

Click on the photo to see it with notes on Flickr.

I'm still hard at work on my paperwork & taxes. I'm hoping to find an accountant today because I completely don't understand the tax forms. Anyway, here's a snap of my computer desk in it's current state. I generally don't keep it quite this neat, but I've just gone through the piles & filed everything away. I think it's easier to work in a neat space. I guess that's why I kept my desk at Disney so plain and free from distractions, lol.


Speaking of distractions, I started a little Flickr Group for projects made from my sewing patterns. So far, I only have one pattern available but you gotta start somewhere, right? I'm still working on that tote pattern. My hands have been better, but now that I'm on the computer so much, I've had a big relapse of pain. I'll get there.
So, if you bought a pattern from me, please stop by & join the group. I'd love to see your handbags! :) And, don't forget the Monkey Travel Club Group. There have been over 300 monkeys adopted and not nearly enough photos.

On My Desk

So, I've decided to play along with a little blog game called "On My Desk", sponsored by Kootooyoo. I found myself inspired by this post. Who wouldn't be? Now, my desk or sewing room will never look like a picture from a magazine, but I thought it'd be fun anyway.

Here's what's on my "desk" at this very moment. I'm halfway through a new girly quilt. I made a new messenger and zipper pouch out of the cutest fabric that's been in the closet for 2 years (I believe I bought it the last time I was in Charlottetown, PEI. So, June '06!). And, last night my hands let me make 4 new monkeys!!! Oh, and in the corner there's a new quilted backpack in the works. If I play along correctly, I'll do an "On My Desk" post every Wednesday. Yeah, I already got it wrong and did it a day late. sigh