The Coupon Organizer Pattern Saga

I don't like to just go on & on about things I put in my shops, but I'm just too excited about this one not to mention it.

Yes, I finally got the sewing pattern written for my coupon organizers, HOORAY!! I do spend a lot of time writing and designing my patterns, but geez, this one was months in the making. 

I swear all I make these days is coupon organizers, but they're pretty fun. I think my favorite part of sewing is putting fabric combinations together, these coupon organizers are great for that.

See what I mean? Look at those crazy colors. What's your favorite thing about crafting?

Of course, I'm still knee deep in monkeys and owls. I've got some new Christmas monkeys in the shop this year.

How do you like the Grinch? haha, it's fun to do a grouchy face now & again.

I think I've sufficiently advertised myself in this post to last at least until the end of the year. :) Thanks for listening. I start sock knitting class tonight, wish me luck!!

Vote for Me!

Actually, vote for Balthazar! I just received a convo from Etsy letting me know that one of my monkeys has made it onto the Tax Time Get Down to Business item poll on the Storque. That's so cool! Balthazar and I are very honored to be a part of the pool. If you'd like to vote for Balthazar or another cool handmade item, click here.

A Great Wednesday

That's all I'm saying.

Monkey Madness

I'm not sure I've ever mentioned this, but I like monkeys. Yeah, I do.

They're funny. To honor this fact, I thought I'd tell you about my latest Etsy purchase. You may have seen BirdonaFernStudio, but you haven't lived until you own one of these wonderful creations. My little monkey pouch (he's the bigger one in the middle) is just about the cutest thing ever. His name is Sebastian (thank you Mrs. Lemon for the suggestion) and he's feeling very welcome in his new home.

I'm so glad I waited for the red fur lining to be available. He's ever so color coordinated and looks so smart in his hat too. I'm in love.

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.

Actually Crafting

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.

Guilty as Charged

So here I am, trying to get some work done, when I come across the above guilty party. What is it with cats anyway? Only moments after taking all these mooshy pictures of Jody on my bed,

I go downstairs to grab something and there's Maple in the middle of a lot of water, licking her guilty paws. At least Jody was smart enough to take off when he heard me coming for crying out loud. Poor old Maple. She's pretty but she's not smart. And why, if she enjoys sticking her fuzzy paws into the water dish so much, is she such a big baby when it comes to grooming? I ask you.

Oh yeah, I listed a new monkey today too. This was before I wiped up the water all over my kitchen. &%*$^#

Monkeyin' Again

Now that I've got my application for the Farmer's Market taken care of, I can get back to making things. I haven't had much chance to list new items in the shops and I think it's catching up to me. So, today I picked a monkey out of the basket and decided he'd be the next little guy up for adoption.

His name is Alex and his hat is made from a new yarn I picked up in Santa Rosa. It's super soft and comes in lots of great colors. This one's a pretty pale blue, kind of Restoration Hardware/Martha Stewart if you ask me. I think he's pretty handsome anyway. I've got him listed now so he's anxiously awaiting his adoption. Check out iSew.biz or my Etsy shop to see more pictures of Alex.

Late last night I listed Rory, but he sold a couple hours later to a repeat customer in New Zealand. Rory's really excited about going to his new home, he's already on his way.

That's about all I've got to say for now. Thanks so much for all the nice comments about my booth and logo quilt. I promise to post a tutorial about the quilt as soon as I can. And Happy Belated Birthday to my friend Jenn in Seattle.

Does this make me famous?

Last night I decided to go take a look at my Google Analytics results just to see what kind of traffic my blog and website are getting. If you don't know about Analytics, I won't even try to explain it, just got to the site & check it out, lol. As usual, I found that the number one referring site to my blog is Jenn Maruska's Blog, hey, thanks Jenn. But I also found a couple blogs referring to my website that I didn't recognize. Both are located in Norway, totally written in Norwegian so I don't know what they say. It was pretty easy to see what they story was
though.

If I could only read Norwegian. sigh

Even though they aren't exactly the same as mine, I'm pretty flattered. This is a nicer form of copying. Cool.

Life in the Monkey Factory

Okay, maybe I shouldn't say "factory", that sounds so mass production. lol I made a bunch of new monkeys over the last week or so. Getting ready for the Farmer's Market and trying to list often on Etsy and on my site keeps me pretty busy. I'm trying out some new monkey colors too. The one in the gold hat is a yummy caramel color, the lavender hat monkey is a sort of latte brown. Not sure how I feel about them yet. We'll see if I sell them. :)
I also just finished a new zipper pouch, I sold the last one. I'm planning to make a bunch more of those, but maybe not take quite so long to do it. I spent way too much time piecing this new one together. Naughty girl.
And while I was doing a little online shopping yesterday, I came across this Tupperware Design Contest. Check it out, sounds like fun. (Maybe a collaborative effort for you & Josh, Jenn) I think I'm off to San Francisco today for lunch with Nick. We might get our new car tonight, wish us luck. Have a great Tuesday!

Memorial Day Weekend

Hello from beautiful Ahwahnee California. Nick & I decided to take advantage of the holiday weekend and get away. It's great to be back in California so we can visit my friends Jim & Julie who live 20 minutes from Yosemite National Park. It was only a 3 hour drive, and I was expecting 4. I guess we'll be visiting a lot, haha. Jim, Julie & I met back when I used to play roller hockey, about 7 or 8 years ago. They're the nicest people and they love having company, lucky us. They even put up Nick's parents on their trip through California in March.

We won't make it to Yosemite this time, but no one wants to go there on a holiday weekend anyway. Here's a picture of my first gadget monkey on our last trip up here in February. Jim & Julie are the proud owners of Randy and have taken loads of great pictures of him. While we're here I've been hoping to get lots of new monkeys made. I've got a couple new ideas in the works, I hope you like them. So far I've made about 4 and a second one of these...he's a gadget monkey keychain! I recently made my 50th Etsy sale to a repeat customer in Maine, so I made this keychain as a gift for her. He turned out pretty cute, so I'm going to make some more. If I can get into the Marin County Farmer's Market it'll be good to have some lower priced items.

That's it for me right now, hope everyone has a great weekend and gets lots of free time to do what they want. I'm off to make a custom monkey for a buyer in Austria. How cool is that?

Don't Laugh

Because my gadget monkeys have been my top seller, I have been thinking about other versions of them to sell. This is one of the first ideas that came to mind, it's just taken a while to make one. Just what you've all been waiting for, a monkey purse! He's not a big purse, just the right size for some cash, a phone & some lip balm. I named him Stanley, after one of my favorite ex-coworkers. I think he's quite a handsome fellow. He'll be available soon on iSew.biz and in my Etsy shop for about $20.

What's on your sewing table?

Last night I was feeling really motivated so I cut out a bunch of stuff to sew today. I'm hoping to get myself into some craft fairs this summer so it can't hurt to stock up, right? I cut out 4 pairs of booties & 3 tote bags. If I'm really good, and get drag myself off the computer, I can get some of it made today before I have to go to the bank. I have stacks of fabric hanging on the stair rail, waiting to be ironed & cut too. Lots to do.

I've been searching online for some shows and I think I may have made some head-way. I found this site yesterday http://www.888artfest.com/index.html, there seemed to be a lot listed for the Bay Area. I need to get myself a calendar and start mapping out which ones I should apply for. There were a lot of them that make the seller pay 10%, I don't think I'm into that. I'm looking forward to selling at a craft show, I think my items will do well in person. I'm a bit nervous too, though I know I shouldn't be. I used to set up events for a living, I shouldn't have a hard time coming up with a nice display. Too bad I don't know anyone around here yet to come along & keep me company. Poor Nick won't enjoy it much. He loved the Maker Faire this past weekend. (sorry I didn't mention it sooner...hey, I went to the Maker Faire this weekend) It was a lot more fun for Nick than for me really. The CRAFT portion was a lot smaller and unimpressive if you ask me. I'm a total event snob, but it really lacked signs & continuity. We both found it really hard to understand what things were. Still, it was a great time. The life-sized Mousetrap was my favorite. You remember that game, from when we were kids (those of us in our 30's)? That was pretty cool. I didn't take any pictures, so you'll have to look on Flickr. Anyway, we had a good time & Nick may have found himself a geeky activity to do in his spare time (rocketry...um, yeah). Guess I should make one of those I heart nerds t-shirts next, haha. Just kidding Nick.

I was pretty busy yesterday with this too:

It was a sort of custom order for a friend. I mailed it to her sister-in-law for her birthday, I hope she likes it. (Happy Birthday Chris)

And this is Diana. She's a custom Gadget Monkey for Sheri in Arizona. Diana loves to play outside and pick flowers. She kind of looks like a flower basket, doesn't she? Have a good time in Arizona Diana. I hope you like desert flowers too.

I just can't get over it

Chico is my boyfriend infinity!

Words cannot describe...

My new friend Chico. OH MY GOSH! Thank you , thank you, thank YOU Jenn Maruska Design. Chico is the best thing since sliced bread...coffee...cupcakes with sprinkles, yeah pretty much the best thing ever. I received my pretty pink tasket today along with Chico the monkey and his little blankie. I'm the luckiest girl ever. You have made my week, no...my month. You're the best Jenn!

Chico has met his new roomies and is making himself comfortable. I'll keep an eye on him, there was a close call when he met Maple. Maple's naughty.

And congratulations on your 100th sale Jenn! Your shop is great and everything you make too (especially monkeys).

Etsy Love #4

For those of you who love monkeys like I do, check out BreezeB's shop on Etsy. Her sock monkey art is fantastic, I love her shop. There are onesies, and artwork featuring these cute little monkeys. Please, go take a look. And don't worry, if monkeys aren't your thing, she's got a kitty and a bunny too.

There's a new kid in town

It's Ruthie! She's the latest Gadget Monkey I put on my website. She's not on Etsy yet, but I suppose she will be soon. I've found that I get very few sales on the weekend so I'd rather wait until Monday to list a new item.
This not being able to sew thing is really hard. I took my old PFAFF in for a tune up and the guy won't even be in for another three days. Aargh! I guess Nick & I have been really busy this week buying stuff for the house & everything so it hasn't been so bad. He starts his new job Monday and I'll be stuck here alone. That's not gonna be fun without a sewing machine. I guess I'll be stocking up on monkeys again. I haen't sold much over the past 2 weeks so it seems like such a waste. Ever get discouraged because your sales are low? That's me right now. I've been trying to relist and post on the Etsy forums a lot, but still not much happening. I guess it'll pick up.
What I really want to do is get a second website going for my little monkey friends and spend some time promoting iSew.biz. I have a great book about online marketing, but it's on a ship with my sewing room! I'm afraid I don't even know where to start. I've done a lot already, but I still need to do way more. Maybe it's time to put an ad in a magazine. Any ideas which one? Me either.
Well, I'll worry about all that later. My Aunt is in town this week so she's stopping by tomorrow to see the house. That'll be a nice distraction on a Sunday.

The Monkey Bunch CONTEST!

So I had this idea to take a bunch of images of my little gadget monkeys & put them into a Brady Bunch type background. I know, I know, I'm supposed to be moving in a few days, but a girl needs a break every now & then. The thing is, I made 7 new monkeys over the last few days & I wanted to find a cool way to show them off. Besides, Nick doesn't like to see himself on my desktop. This will definitely make him smile when he sees my computer & these smiling faces are staring back at him. lol
I've actually been making good progress in the packing department. I don't have to pack much myself anyway, the moving guys will do most of it. I spent most of today sorting through the wardrobe in my sewing room to consolidate all the small stuff. I've got a diaper bag & 3 handbags cut out & bagged up so I can do some sewing in the new house before our shipment arrives. I get to use my old PFAFF again, that'll be fun!

I'd also like to announce my first Contest!
I currently have 3 monkeys for sale on iSew.biz and in my Etsy shop. Only 2 of them are seen in this picture. Send me a message through Etsy or my Blog with what their names are and the name of the 3rd monkey that's not shown here. If you answer correctly, your name will go into a drawing for a custom gadget monkey. Don't put your answer in a comment or you'll give it away! I'll choose the name on Friday, April 20th. Good luck!

New to the Family

Over the last week I've sold 6 of my little gadget monkeys, so I decided to bring a few new ones into the family. Meet Rupert & Steve. Rupert is pretty cool because he comes with a strap so you can hang him from the handle of a bag. He's perfect for an iPod or cell phone. And Steve is a slightly smaller monkey, great for a phone as well. He'd be good at holding an iPod mini, but he's a bit small for the video ones.
Anyway, these two guys will be moving into my shop and will be available on Etsy too. If I have time tomorrow, I've got another new monkey to introduce as well. He's got a button loop on his hat like Steve, and he wears a nice purple hat. Keep your eyes peeled for new monkeys, there moving in all the time.

Nice nice nice

I'll start today by talking about the cool Etsy notebook I got in the mail from another Etsy seller the other day. Her shop is called "from Belgium with Love". All of her stuff is great, but I just bought this cute little notebook. I seem to have a notebook for everything these days, so this one will be handy for my Etsy related notes. I really love the Pantone strip down the side and the hand binding. So cute. And thanks Eenig, for enclosing the cute little button with your business card. As soon as I got that little flower button, I got right on Etsy & ordered some for myself as promos. I can't wait to get them and send them out with orders.

Speaking of orders, I can't believe I sold 3 items in one day this past week, and another the next day. A serious record for me. I listed a new monkey last night, that I had planned on showing off here, but he sold too. It's been a lucky few days for me. And thanks to JennMaruskaDesign, I have another custom order for a gadget monkey to work on. And I'm very pleased that she was happy to receive her custom gadget monkey, Daisy, whom you can read about in her Blog. Daisy looks like she's fitting in well, I'm so glad. (Thanks for saying such nice things about me Jenn)

I had a Showcase on Etsy today, but haven't sold anything as yet. Lots of looks though. I did get a chance to list a second new monkey today, and he's making his apperance on the Showcase page now. I really need to make some more of those little guys.

It's getting late over here, and I've had a fairly full day. Nick & I went for a drive to a village called Halstead today & had some lunch. It was a nice time, but it feels like it's been a long day. I haven't done any sewing, but I worked a bit more on my new Flickr account. I uploaded a lot of my fabrics to it so I can send folks there to pick their favorites. I just started the Flickr thing yesterday. Another time consuming computer job. I hope that's it, I need to do some sewing. I put a little ad for it over there on the left. I don't actually know the address. I'll figure that out later.

Nighty Night