Etsy Favorites Wednesday - the scissors edition

I don't know why but I have developed quite an affinity for scissors. Not using them, necessarily, but prints and photos of them.* Which I know is a little strange, but there are other people out there who like them too, as evidenced by this week's list, the scissors edition. Last week I searched "scissor prints" and found all sorts of goodies. I need to sell some crapola outta my shop so I can buy some of these things! I've hit what you might call a dry spell with selling my wares ... no one's buying. I'm pouting. Anyway, here's this week's list!

First of all, I went to my favorite fabric store (Fabric Shack in Waynesville) this past weekend, and I literally squealed with delight when I saw SCISSOR FABRIC! Pink scissors on white fabric - oh my! And white scissors on teal fabric, oh oh my! I bought a half yard of this:


and a quarter yard of this:


and I'm going to make myself a little bag out of it. There were all sorts of color variations to the print and if my husband wouldn't have put a strict guideline on the amount of money I could spend on fabric (grrr!), I would have bought yardage out of all of it!


Get Your Craft On print

Super cute, and I like the open scissors. I like the color too, a soft sea-foamy green color.


Scissors #1 print

One pink pair out of eight. Nice.


Scissors Screenprint

Simple. Scissors.


Scissors Photo

Read the item description, it's funny! For the record, I like scissors in an un-sexy way.


Scissors print

Another just plain pair of scissors. Love it.

*Upon completion of this list I also searched "scissors fabric" to see if anyone had made anything sweet out of the same fabric I bought, and oh yes they did! A zipper bag with scissor fabric and woodgrain?! That is all sorts of love right there.

And then! Scissors and skulls on fabric! And paper dolls and scissors! Someone stop me! Someone tell me to cut it out! (hah haaa!)

Last day of pre-pre-school was today!

Awww, another year of pre-school is over! The girls have been going to pre/play school for the past two years. Today was the last day. Next year they'll be going to "the real" pre-school and then it's on to kindergarten! I blogged about their first day of school in the fall of 2008 here in a blog post, and that post includes links to previous pre-school-relatd posts. I actually started this here blog on the girls' first day of pre-pre-school in 2007!

Here's a picture from today. I must say that they're just two of the cutest (and smartest!) little pre-pre-schoolers around! teehee

And in reverse order! Here's a pic from last fall, their first day of the 08-09 school year:

And from May of 2008, their last day last year:

And from their very first day of school in the fall of 2007, their first-ever day:

What goes around should not come around again

I've heard the saying that fashion comes around and goes around again and again but I swear to you now that if the fashion trend of pegging your pants comes back into the zone of "coolness" I will shoot myself dead. The eighties are coming back, or maybe they are back already, and it's not long before the late 80s and early 90s will be here too and people will be pegging their jeans and wearing penny loafers with NO SOCKS! Have you seen the clothes those young people are wearing?! OMG I just said "those young people." And OMG I just wrote OMG on my blog. Have I officially exited the "young people" stage?! Yes, yes I have. So sad. Anycrap, the other day we were shopping and Mike and I found ourselves in Hot Topic. I will say this first, it's quite weird taking a toddler into Hot Topic. I feel dirty about doing so, but what are we supposed to do, leave them at the door, take turns going in by ourselves? We sort of like the store because they carry records and occassionally I'll find a Nightmare Before Christmas something or other and they sell a good t-shirt here and there.

On to my point, upon entering the store I was stopped dead in my tracks when I saw the display of bright neon colored jeans. Next to that, a pair of acid washed jeans. Next to that, a pair of jeans with "paint splatters" on them. Oh holy Lord it was awful. Do you remember when I saw a lady wearing stirrup pants, and the image of which was seared into my retinas? Well Hot Topic's display of such obnoxiously horrible horrendous NEON jeans is now seared into my retinas, overtaking the stirrups. I'll take stirrups any day over bright highlighter-pink skinny jeans.

Is it only a matter of time before pegging comes back? Could those pink skinny jeans somehow get a little bigger at the bottom, only to be skinny again by PEGGING?! If so, I will die. I will. I will die. And who would have ever thought that the paint splatter effect would be back! What's next, puffy paint?

*Actually if puffy paint did come back into action, I'd be semi-okay with that. I've got mad puffy paint skills. I made myself some mighty fine t-shirts in the day.

The eight years that flew by!

Yesterday marked my hubby's and I's eighth anniversary! Wow, how time flies! Happy Anniversary my dearest, bestest friend! I love you more each and every day!

*Isn't that picture hilarious?! I searched "Happy Anniversary" in Google images and that's one of the pictures that came up. Um, I didn't think that Smurfs drank beer. Or offered congratulatory sentiments. And what's with the triangle pedestal thing he's on? Haha!!

Etsy Favorites Wednesday - the creeptastic edition

~~ This week's list has been commandeered by my friend A.

You've been forewarned.

Creeptastic bug action prevails. ~~

A. writes: Last week Wendy wrote about Lydia's fascination with bugs (which I think is awesome) and how she was grossed out by it (which I think is hilarious). To support my goddaughter's potential calling, I'm hijacking Etsy Favorites Wednesday. I beg Wendy to convince me that these bugs are gross! {Wendy's note, um, they're gross, all of them!}

Pocket Poly

I swear this adorable Roly Poly Bug is smiling. And why wouldn't he? He's 3.5" (from the rooter to the tooter) and comes in his own terrarium.

Magnetic Ant

This little ant and his grasshopper and beetle friends are definitely not gross. They come with little magnets inside so kids can put them on the fridge or one of this shop's magnet shirts. Check it out.

Pet Ladybug

The problem with pet bugs is that they crawl away. This is the perfect solution. And the bugs - butterflies, beetles or caterpillars - are guaranteed not to go to bug heaven.

Buggy Crochet

The best thing about these cute crocheted bugs is the bug catcher. If I knew how to crochet I already would have ordered these patterns and made a set for Lydia.

Caterpillar

Finally, we have "Pete", the Pacific Northwest Skybark Caterpillar. I love his colors and the fact that he likes to snuggle up in towels. At 6 inches long, he's a mutant, which makes him all the more lovable. {Wendy's note: that is the thing of nightmares!!}

Sewing charms!

Why don't I own these yet?! Sterling silver sewing charms?! Hello?! I want them NOW! They are all here at this site. There's a button, an embroidery hoop, a bobbin, a needle, a spool of thread and a thimble. I LOVE THEM ALL!

Fabric goodness

Ha ha I was going to label this post "Fabric Porn" but I thought that title sounded dirty, but really, it's not. Feeling Stitchy is an embroidery blog that I follow, and they've been doing a series on "Floss Porn", pictures of thread. Anyway, I'm at the "post craft show" stage, where honestly, I know that I shouldn't be having any more ideas on making any more stuff. Because I've got a ton of stuff leftover, stuff that I need to sell in my shop. But I can't help it, I've got ideas. I'm a crafty girl. I have to always be doing something with my hands, and I haven't created anything, haven't made anything for six days, and I've got the itch. I've got ideas for some more doll/plushie items. To flesh out those ideas, I went to my favorite fabric store's web page, and found all sorts of inspirational fabrics. Check it out, my short list of "fabric porn":

Sketchbook - I have an idea to make all black and white dolls, with embroidered details. That fabric would be excellent.

Flowers - it looks like those flowers have been drawn with big fat Sharpie markers.

Trick or Treat - the Halloween fabrics are in! I'd use this fabric all year round. There's also an orange and yellow version. Ahhh! Love!

CAMPERS! - oh my! I think I'm the only one that loves camper fabric, but I don't care, I love it!

We're going camping next weekend for Memorial Day, near the fabric shop. I'm going to have to find a way to sneak myself up there and sneak a few purchases!

I should pay her for looking so cute

One day this week I decided, because it was sunny, to take pictures of my dolls outside. I love my lightbox for the detail shots of smaller items, but sunny days make for the best pictures to use on Etsy in my shop. Lydia decided she wanted to help me, she is just so sweet. She helped me carry everything out to the backyard, then I let her pick out the dolls to photograph. She thought that was big stuff, to be able to choose which dolls went first. Then she said she wanted to be in a photo with a doll. This is the first photo I took of her:

I know, cute right?! So I decided to take photos of her with all of the dolls, to add them into the mix of photos in my shop. Check out the ones I have uploaded so far, here. Not only does Lydia add a sense of scale to the photos but also a huge amount of cuteness!

And what's funny is that Arlene wanted absolutely no part in any of this. It's fascinating how different they are!

I am slowly adding my doll stock to the shop ... I'm taking my time doing it because it takes quite a bit of time. I've added a few magnets and hair clips too. Oh and also my custom embroidery.

Etsy Favorites Wednesday

It's Etsy Favorites Wednesday time! Do you know that song, Peanut Butter Jelly Time? I have that in my head, except I've replaced PB with Etsy Favorites Wednesday. "It's Etsy Favorite Wednesday time, it's Etsy Favorites Wednesday time, where he at, where he at, where he at, where he at, OH there he go, there he go, there he go, there he go ..." ANNNNYYYYwaaay, here's this week's list! (sorry)

Handmade beads - How pretty are these beads? And they're handmade. I want to buy them and make a bracelet out of them.

Make your own log kit - I am in looooove with these plush logs from this gal. I've posted them before on a EFW list. I haven't bought one yet because honestly they're quite pricey, BUT NOW, you can buy the kit and buy your own stuffing and make it. Lucky me - I have three bags of stuffing in my craft room just waiting to be used as log stuffing!

Sew Crafty Card - I actually purchased this card last week! I'm going to frame it and hang it in my craft room. Aside from my love of buttons, I've been really liking photos or illustrations, or in this case, letterpress, of scissors. Is that weird?

F that S - awww yeah. That card is what I say about Twitter. In fact, I'm going to buy that card, keep it in my pocket, and the next person that asks me to explain Twitter to them, I'm going to just hold it up and walk away. Or hit them with it. (peanut butter jelly with a baseball bat!)

Vintage buttons - yum. Love the color, love the design. Want them now.

Growing up too fast

I think Arlene has aged a full year in the last three days.

My babies are growing up!

:( sniff, sniff!

Ewwww, bugs!

Lydia LOVES bugs, and it really grosses me out! The child picks up bugs and spiders and creepy crawlies and "hugs" them and "loves" them. I tell her the bugs are gross and she tells me, "No they're not mommy, they're cuuuuuute!" Gah! Last night, we were taking photos of my Etsy shop stock in the backyard, and she just kept finding all of these caterpillars. She had six at one point! She let them crawl all over her and I almost threw up! I know I should probably be more "accepting" and "encouraging" of her love of gross bugs, but that's what her daddy is for, right?!

One of my fav Etsy sellers is the Featured Seller!

I squealed with delight this evening when I logged onto Etsy and saw that one of my favorite sellers, Summersville, is the featured seller! She'll be the featured seller for the next couple days, which means a lot of sales for her, which is wonderful because she so deserves the attention. Her stuff is great! I've made some dolls out of her fabric, and they turned out especially cute!

I made this "houses" doll last fall for a craft show and donated it to an auction for Habitat for Humanity. I blogged about it here.

For this last craft show I bought some of Summersville's alphabetty fabric (on the left), and she was one of the dolls that actually sold! I absolutely loved that doll! I need to buy more fabric and make myself an alphabet doll!

Go visit Summersville's shop now and buy something!

Went with 39, came home with 32

Yup, I'm a little bummed. My craft show didn't go all that well this weekend. I busted my hiney and made a total of 39 dolls ... and only sold seven. And a handful of magnets and hair clips. Well let me re-state that, I sold four dolls and traded three - I was able to trade with three other vendors for some pretty cool stuff. I love trading! It's like dual goodness; one, you get to get something you want without having to pay cash, and two, another crafter likes your stuff enough to trade for it, so that's the ultimate compliment. I traded with Abbydid for a Wibbly Woo and a Knuckbiter; I traded with L.S. Ayers studio for this necklace (mine doesn't have the gem in it, just the tree on a circle); and I traded with Jake & Noel for her way cute earrings! I got four pairs that look like these, and I looooove them so much. We also bought a few things. Mike (my helper and craft-show companion extraordinaire!) found this print (we already have it framed and on our mantle!) along with a gift for my mom for mom's day.

I had fun at the show, don't get me wrong, but to be honest I expected to sell more. I didn't expect to sell out, but I expected to sell a fair amount of the dolls. Maybe at least 15? Perhaps even 10? But nope, just seven (or really just four). Bummer.

I have hypothesized and reasoned and worried and fretted and and psychoanalyzed it to death, the reasons why I didn't sell more. Here's the short list of what I came up with: the craft show ROCKED. I was in absolutely heaven, there were sooooo many awesome vendors selling equally awesome things. It was pure craft heaven. While it was great to be a part of something so hip and cool, it was also daunting, because there was just so much stuff there. There were people that would walk by my table three or four times ... circling the show, trying to decide what to buy. The other reason why I think my stuff didn't do too well is that the crowd was so hip and young. My dolls cater to a small child, that child's mother, or that child's grandmother. There weren't a lot of those at the show. There were a few, and those are the few that bought the dolls! I have also gone through a lot of self-doubt about if I should even do this anymore! I was pulling my hair out the last two weeks, staying up late, neglecting the kids and husband, trying feverishly to get the dolls finished. It doesn't seem worth it. I believe in my stuff and I know that I'm making a good product. It's just a matter of finding the best audience for it and the best venue to sell it.

I'm not really sure where I'll go from here. I have a crap load of stock, so I'll be putting it on Etsy. I'm going to spend some time and get some really great photos of the dolls so that they'll stand out on Etsy, and I'll just see how they do. I'm also going to be listing some custom embroidery pieces; stay tuned for those.

But first and foremost, I'm going to clean my house. It's been really neglected these past two weeks as I sewed and sewed and sewed.

I took some pics of the show before it started; I was rushing and the pics didn't turn out that great, but you get the idea of what my table looked like. They're on my Flickr, here. I have notes in them, so hover your mouse over the photo to see them.

Etsy Favorites Wednesday - the craft show edition!

Oh man! I seriously hope that I sell a lot at my craft show this weekend, because I checked out some of the other vendors that are going to be there, and I love their stuff! I'm going to want to buy so much! Maybe they'll want to do a swap with me? Lordie I hope so. This week's Etsy Favorites Wednesday list includes 2 items that each of the sellers have in their shops right now. Check them out! And if you live in northern-ish Ohio, come to OddMall! It's in Hudson, OH, about 45 minutes southeast of Cleveland; about two hours northeast of Columbus; and about two hours east of Toledo (take a road trip!)

You can find all of the details about the show by visiting the link here. If you come, please look for me, I'll be the table that has all of the cutsie dolls and adorable fabric magnets and hair clips, next to the gal selling the adorable monsters!

The "Berry Bracelet" and "Teeming Earrings" from Smashing are just devine!

Have a Heart headband and "Tree Wallet" are toooo cute. And the shop name! Get Felt Up! Love it!

Buttons! Love the "Orange Blossom" ring and the "Ticker" bobby pin from BRadleyBB!

Ahhh! How cute are these?! The "Scoops" bowl and the "Bike Plate" from LittleKorboose!

These items from Jake and Noel will be the death of me, I know it. I love me some little tiny ceramic jewelry! Love love love the "Dots" series and the "Little Roses" earrings.

Come to Odd Mall!

Countdown to my craft show ...

It's me! Sewing! (and Jack's in the corner, teehee)

I made some excellent sewing progress this weekend. I'm quite pleased with my work because I am now 99% confident I will get everything done before my craft show this coming Saturday. When the weekend started I was 68% sure I'd get it all done. Seriously, I was really starting to fret. Alas, I worked all weekend with the exception of attending my niece's First Communion service and party on Sunday.

I am making a total of 35 dolls to take to the craft show, and I'm doing them in an assembly-line fashion; I stuffed all of the legs, then all of the arms, then I sewed on their buttons, mouths, and tags, next I sewed them all together and flipped them rightside out. I am to the point where they are all sewed up, I just need to stuff them.

I also managed to make 40 hair clips and 60 magnets! I am making the clips and magnets out of fabric - I'm using a 'covered button' kit (which is really cool and super easy, I will have to share more on that later!) and gluing magnets and clips to the backs.

I'm not taking any jewelry to the craft show, because I've sold it all on Etsy (with the exception of one pendant!) I'll have all-fabric items for sale: dolls, hairclips and magnets. I'm getting super excited about the show!

I took a couple of in-progress shots of the work going on Sunday:

In progress, and a mess. The dolls heads and dresses are wrapped up around the stuffed legs. For the record, black carpet in a sewing room is an absolute nightmare!


The basket of about half of the dolls all sewed up (but flat - no stuffing).

Success! All dolls sewn and waiting stuffing. I didn't realize until I took this picture that I had thrown my scissors on top of the doll pile, and they are sitting right on top of the doll that has scissors on her dress! (hard to tell in this picture though, sorry!)


My little sewer! The girls are often in the craft room with me while I'm working. They have a little table in there and they usually color, draw or read books. Lydia was really interested in my sewing machine so I gave her a piece of paper with holes punched into it and she laced it up. So cute! She was so proud of herself. And how cute is her crown? I so need a crown to wear when I'm sewing. She's wearing the outfit she wore to the church service, including the shoes. She wanted to be "fancy" all day and refused to take off her outfit, haha!


Lydia's finished creation. She sewed the edges and then colored the middle.

I have two helpers in my craft room. Edward and Jack. I thought this picture was funny - the "zombies" poster and Edward. That poster is from this blog post. I can't find a frame suitable for its coolness so for now it's just hanging on my art wire in the room.


Magnets and hairclips. They are upside down so the glue can dry.

Close up of a hair clip.

Close up of the back of a hairclip.

Two magnets.

Close up side view of a magnet.