Craft Season Post Mortem

Happy holidays, everyone! Now that the holiday madness is over, I can get some stuff done. Zoey's first Christmas was busy and totally screwed up her schedule, but I don't think she noticed other than that. ;)

I basically took off the whole fall season from craft shows and opted to try two in December. That may not have been the best choice since they were back to back weekends, and I had the consignment merchandise to stock at Dwelling Spaces.

The Deluxe show in OKC was December 10th. Last year it was great, so I was hopeful it would be again. The only new merchandise I added was the large sized robots and owls, which ended up selling before the show officially started. I had a good supply of Sock Buddies and Softbots and felt owls along with a ton of linocut cards and some new fabric wall hangings. This show was the first with Zoey, and I had recruited help from my husband and MIL for during the show. The booth was packed with baby stuff, like her bassinet, front carrier, blankets, diapers, etc. Crazy! Breast feeding in the middle of a craft show was interesting too, but after childbirth your modesty goes out the window! I did have a classic customer who literally peeked under the nursing cover to see the baby. HELLO. Zoey ended up being really good and taking in all the action. :)

Zoey enjoying the Deluxe show

The show sales ended up being very disappointing. The majority of the sales were my mom's embroidered towels, which she makes on her machine usually to my specifications. They always sell really well at the shows, but since I don't have my own machine we haven't tried to do anything besides towels with them. I would like to do some onesies or other baby items.

The Alliday show was the following week in Tulsa. I had decided to share with my friend, Heather, from Audrey Eclectic because we didn't think we'd have enough inventory...haha. I forgot that Zoey took half my booth space! It was very crowded in there, and Heather brought her new puppy too! The adorable factor was irresistible to the customers. ;) However, I'm thinking the cute baby and dog might have detracted from our sales! I wasn't going to make anything new for this show, but I got a wild hair to do some Russian dolls at the last minute! They are super cute. I thought they'd be a big seller, but nothing sold very great except the towels again....

They are for sale on my Etsy site

Every year I have to reevaluate the craft business. Getting ready for the shows is always stressful, and now with the baby it's virtually impossible. The work to profit ratio is dismal. It's more of a socializing thing for me because you can never count on sales. I hope to get the internet sales going this year, somehow, and try to increase inventory at the one store I sell at. Any ideas for online marketing from my savvy readers? ;)

P.S. It literally took me all day to write this one post because Zoey kept interrupting me. Babies...sheesh!

The Ultimate Craft

I have been long absent from the blogosphere due do a little bundle of joy that has disrupted my life quite a bit! Finding time to craft with my 10 week old around is a big challenge. Every time I see her close an eye I have to race to the sewing machine...that is, if I've actually showered and eaten already, which is usually not the case! Since she's adorable, I let it slide. ;)

I had to do a bit of crafting for Halloween this year. We were a family of owls. (I know, big surprise) I didn't have time to figure out how to make a whole dress, although I wanted to copy this one I found on a blog a year or two ago that was made from a pillow case. A pillow case?! My post-prego body is definitely not fitting in one of those, so I decided to do an apron style. I ordered the crocheted hat from Etsy. I wish I knew how to make those...put it on the to-do list. For my daughter I ordered an adorable owl sleep sack from Amazon that came with a hat already. I made my reluctant husband an owl hat from felt and a preexisting stocking cap he had. I also bought him a screen printed owl t-shirt from Etsy.

 

I may be crazy, but I signed up to do both the Deluxe & Alliday shows on two consecutive weekends in December. AH!!! I started a small stockpile, but I need way more if I'm going to do two shows and keep the consignment items stocked at Dwelling Spaces. In an effort to continue streamlining the crafting process, I have ordered two more tags for my goodies. I can't even believe I wasted so much time printing and cutting out those things in the past! I am using Printrunner.com for these.

I'm hoping to add some new plush friends to the lineup for Christmas and find some time to do a little painting. I have ordered five new designs of postcards featuring the plushies, like robots, owls, and Sock Buddies. Yeah! I can't wait for those to come in. 

Better go check on the Ultimate Craft. ;)

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

Baby Time!

It's finally baby time! Only about three days until my scheduled C-section. Not my original plan, but the baby has refused to flip around, so she's breech. Now that I've been reading up on sections I had so boldly skipped in all my pregnancy books, and spoken with some friends, I'm feeling a bit better about the whole thing. It's still an overwhelming idea to be having surgery and a baby at the same time!

I think my nesting phase is now complete! After two showers, a major Target shopping spree, and lots of decorating, the nursery is looking cute and well stocked.

My Tulsa baby shower was so nice. Hosted by friends, Tony and Heather, we did a bird/spring time theme with fresh flowers and lots of spring decorations. We used flowers from Sam's and various decorations borrowed from our stashes.

We used the vase of branches as a wishing tree or name suggestions. We had a bunch of snacks and treats that Tony and Heather brought.



These ladies were nice enough to bring their new babies for everyone to coo at!

adorable knitted hats made by Heather

Holly made a cute giraffe toy and some great burp clothes for me, and Julia gave a gorgeous feather headband and felt barrette from her Feather by Feather collection. My neighbor crocheted a little blanket with hood too. I got lots of other lovely gifts from my registry.

These are the little felt birds Heather & I made for the the shower favors.  

Here is a little tour of the nursery:

The curtains are from some of the Echino fabric I bought orginally. My mom & I worked on those several months ago. Then I made the little wall hanging with some of the other coordinating fabric. The changing table is the Spoling from IKEA. It folds up and has some handy pouches all around it. I got the daybed from Overstock.com, the reversible bedspread from Amazon, and the sheets from Bed, Bath, & Beyond. The crib is from Target.com. I ended up getting the lampshade from Etsy, which is the same fabric as the curtains. I used an old base I had that I am still debating about painting. I had the chest & bookshelf (can't see it in this photo) already.

I got the idea for this little tree from browsing vinyl decals on Etsy. I thought it would be more fun to paint it myself! Plus, those rub-ons are not fun on the textured walls.

I made this coordinating collage with a canvas and my scrapbook paper. I used the wall paint for the background, so it blends in.

I just stapled on some of my Echino fabric, added the rick-rack, and used the turquoise paint in the background for this wall hanging.

I ordered this felt bird bunting from Willowbaus on Etsy. I was going to use it at the shower, but it didn't come in time, so I just made this paper flag bunting to put out on the porch.

I had this leaning bookshelf already. It was pretty much stocked with all my own children's books, like Narnia, Harry Potter, The Wizard of Oz, and other classics, plus a few of my childhood favorites. I added the Alice in Wonderland oval paintings I did and a Wizard of Oz print I got from Etsy.

All the superfluous stuff is ready now...just waiting on the actual baby!!

The Long, Hot Summer

This summer has been boiling hot in Tulsa! My expanding belly and tiny human are making me ultra hot too. The pool has been a life saver for exercising during these hot days.

I feel like I've been traveling since mid-May when we took our babymoon! Cancun was nice, but I discovered my limitations when we attempted to leave our cozy resort and venture out into the wilds. Our first excursion was to some Mayan ruins. We took a bus ride that was over two hours and then had a 3 hour tour in 100+ heat. There were a couple trees hidden amidst a giant, flat plain with pyramids and ancient buildings on it that all the tourists were trying to huddle under. I was so hot I think my brain shut down and I heard about 1/3 of the information! Finding restrooms was my main activity for the entire trip...not only am I pregnant, but also was feeling the Montezuma's Revenge pretty severely for the whole week! Not cool. By the time we made it back to our resort it had been about a 12 hour day. Ugh.

The next attempt was to see some fish without scuba diving or snorkeling...we opted for a "sub-sea boat", which had windows in the bottom of a regular boat. I did not realize the cramped quarters and sloshing boat would make me extremely seasick! There was literally a single aisle with benches that closed behind you, so we had to walk over about 10 people to exit the boat. Luckily, I was the only one about to pass out; about 8 more women followed me up top for some fresh air! Lesson learned...stay on the beach! 

 

 

I also had one baby shower since my last post. It was in my hometown, Topeka, KS, hosted by some old friends and scrapbooking pals, Erin and Kathy. They did an amazing job decorating, and I got so many wonderful gifts.

adorable birds nest cupcakes, yum, and they used scrapbook paper for the placemats

Baby loot: jogging stroller, snap-n-go stroller, lots of clothes, some adorable cloth diapers, high chair, bottles, sheets, blankets, books, bath supplies

I had a great time trying to figure out how to fit all the new baby stuff in our nursery! We're still trying to convert it from our catch-all storage/guest room. This weekend we're due to paint an accent wall. The crib is assembled and we have the mattress for it too. :)

 

My high school BFF had her shower in May, which I also went to. She was due July 12th or so, but surprise! Her baby decided to arrive on Memorial Day. AH!!! That was kind of terrifying to everyone, but the little baby girl is doing fine after a couple weeks in the NICU, and so is my friend, except for being totally stressed and unprepared for the early arrival!

Prego Pals at Kristen's shower

While I was at home my mom & I were able to make the nursery curtains in May and start the baby quilt in June. The quilt is going to have an appliqued tree in the middle with an embroidered bird on a branch and rectangles around it in the different coordinating fabrics I've purchased.

Our garden has been exploding with squash, so that is keeping me busy. I froze a bunch to use later, maybe for baby food. I am running out of recipe ideas for squash and zucchini though! We have some baby watermelons on the vine. I've never tried to grow those before, so hopefully they turn out. I've dug some potatoes and it looks like the cucumbers are starting to grow. :)

 

Spring at Last

Woodward Park

 

Hello everyone! Happy Spring! I'm so excited to see all my flowers blooming and the garden growing, not to mention the growing baby I'm cooking up. ;) I met my hubby for lunch at the Garlic Rose (had to use that Groupon up!) and then went to the park for a stroll. It was a great lunch date!

I'm busy preparing for my only spring show, the Dustbowl Arts Market in Norman, Ok. It's on April 30th, so time is flying! I have a little basket of owls ready, some new robots, and I'm working on Sock Buddies today.

I made a new bear using a pattern from a book I got for my birthday called Sew Me, Love Me. It has some adorable creatures in it. This little bear is supposed to have a sleep outfit, but I didn't want to hide the cute sock! His arms are moveable, attached with buttons, which is kind of fun.

I've been obsessing over the baby registry thanks to my Baby Bargains book and it's hundreds of products reviews! I've almost got everything sorted out except the important stuff...the nursery decor! ;) My big dilemma is the small guest room I have to work with which is full of furniture at the moment. :P I have found some adorable fabrics for inspiration, but I haven't decided what direction to go in. We found out at 19 weeks that we are having a girl, so I have some sort of jumping off point. I am anti-baby pink though, and it's difficult to avoid! I've pretty much decided on some sort of bird motif, as you can see!

Here are some swatches I'm pondering:

 

These are from babybedding.com. You can order custom bedding, curtains, and more to match.

Then there are these Echino fabrics that I love. I don't know what I would use them to make exactly...maybe just curtains, a wall hanging, and a crib skirt or baby quilt. Of course, they're all always about $18/yd.

   

I also found a neat one at the local sewing shop in Broken Arrow, Sew Flakes.

Decisions, decisions!

 

I hope everyone has a Happy Easter. We are trying to read through all the gospels this week in preparation. I am already behind, only in Matthew 5, because I started reading a new novel about a quilting club. Sounds cheesy...yes, but it's pretty good. I just randomly picked it up at the library in the recorded books section. I love those because they're like a mini MP3 Player. You can take it on walks or plug in while crafting. The Quilter's Legacy is the name of it. I didn't realize until later that it is actually the 5th book in the series...oops. It's about a lady trying to recover her mother's quilts after her sister sold them off long ago. A good crafty read. :)

This is my first post using Postling, which is a site that allows you to post to all different social media outlets at once. I have linked both of my blog sites and my Facebook to it. Seems pretty neat so far. It emails you whenever there is activity on any of your sites, and you can reply from one page to everything.

A New Year

I have not managed to get any posting done this year. :( I haven't been doing too much crafting and have been preoccupied with many other things.

1) I am having a baby in August! Super excited about that, and also freaking out with all the decisions to be made.

2) My father-in-law passed away unexpectedly a couple weeks ago, which threw us into a crazy emotional roller coaster.

3) Crazy blizzard hit Oklahoma burying us in 1-2 feet of snow for two weeks.

 

Trying to get back in the swing of things after being gone two weeks with the hospital and funeral business in Norman. I have cut out several Sock Buddies that are begging to be sewn! I am half done with my next celebrity buddies, U2. 

I finished this painting on a quick trip home from Norman, which was a gift for a recent Air Force graduate receiving his pin.

Also managed to get some Sock Buddies and robots into the store in Tulsa for sale. 

I'm anxious to do some baby projects, but I don't know the sex of the baby yet, so I can't do anything except try to clean out the future nursery, which is our current guest room and totally full of our STUFF!

We are trying to plan a "babymoon" (vacation) for spring break and maybe another in May when school gets out. We were going to book one before Ron's dad had the heart attack, but didn't get it done, so the prices are crazy now. We can't decide where to go either! Kind of thinking of a beach destination, but want it to be relaxing. Trying to avoid crazy spring breakers too!

I brought out the spring decorations yesterday to will the nice weather to come! Today it is raining, which is a nice change from cold and snow. I also bought seeds for the garden! I can't wait to get them in the ground. Probably will plant early crops in the next couple weeks. :) I bought potatoes, spinach, lettuce, carrots, snow peas, onions, garlic, yellow squash, zucchini, pumpkins, watermelons, peppers, cilantro, and some flowers.

 

I put out this vintage table cloth I snagged from my mom's house. I think they used it in their first house in the 70's. It matches my kitchen wall perfectly!