Girls' Night Beaut-ique

I mentioned on my previous entry that I'm participating in a "beaut-ique" this week... so here's some info for those of you who live close enough to attend.

I wish I could make this graphic bigger... but the details are:

What: Girls' Night Beaut-ique
When: Thursday May 28th 5:30-9:00 p.m.
Where: Balanced Body
816 B West Poplar, Rogers, AR


There will be lovely items for sale including locally designed handmade jewelry, bags, soaps, personal stationery and handspun yarns, as well as facials and massages for a very small fee. Free snacks, wine and door prizes and specials round out the evening. Bring a friend or a few and join us for a great time out!

Time flies...

and yet I don't know what I was doing all this time or whether it was fun or not. Okay, mostly I was working during the day, and then at night I was not working and not wanting to do anything LIKE work, which typing on a blog is to some extent. So, there's my excuse. Not a good one, but it's all I got. And I'm back.

I strongly encourage all of you out there to make your spouses take your kids away from the house for hours at a time on occasion. I had heard that some husbands do this - just whisk their offspring away to allow their wives to experience a little peace and quiet, time to themselves to do whatever they darn well please without interruption or distraction. It was pretty much an urban myth in my mind, but then yesterday it happened to me.

Love of motherhood aside, it was wonderful to have the house to myself! Actually, I've known for some time that I enjoy cleaning house MUCH more if I'm home alone. Logic would say that I should enjoy more the family pitching in and getting everything done quickly so that I don't have as much to do and we are done sooner. But I am not logical. I would enjoy cleaning the entire house - top to bottom - if I could just be left alone to do it. Go away and let me get my mop and rags and bottles and sprayers and have at it.

I wasn't as productive as all that, but I did get the pile of Large Things cleaned that were collecting in the left half of my kitchen sink (that's why they invented sinks with two sides, right - to use one side and hold dirty dishes in the other?), and I cleaned my son's room, and I did several loads of laundry. Lest you think I've gotten confused and started posting daily stuff on my crafting blog, it is all relevant because I also got SEVERAL hours of sewing done. I am participating in a Girls Night Beaut-ique with four other fabulous women this Thursday night, so some crafting activity was a definite necessity.

So, thanks hubby for the time alone yesterday. Even though he did it only because he'd pissed me off earlier that morning and was trying to make up. Doesn't matter WHY, really... but he did score a few Good Guy points anyway.

Chicken with it's head cut off

I am in love with my self after making this bag. The top part was a remnant - I didn't cut the chicken's head off on purpose. But once I sewed it to the linen it seemed so... so... decapitated. I just decided to give it a body, and I think I did a pretty good job. One of a kind, I'm sure!

I've sold a couple of things in my vintage shop this week, which is great. I shop pretty smart for that shop - aiming for finding real bargains and things I am certain I can turn around for a profit - and I get a nice return for very little effort. I have to say I am sometimes amazed at the prices I see in vintage shops on Etsy. I'm not knocking them - if those other shops can sell a cup and saucer with some vintage 70's motif on them for $20, more power to them - I just feel better about making a profit, but not a killing. Maybe I'm crazy, but I feel good about my karma.

I always knew I'd be a bag lady someday...

...and if you take a look at my sewing room you'd agree. I'm going to participate in a home show in Fayetteville at the end of May, so I'm working hard to upgrade my tote bags and get a system down in terms of what kinds of bags I'll be selling. I tend to just do whatever strikes me - which is great in terms of creativity, but not so great in terms of people seeing a design they like and finding the same thing in different colors or fabrics in my Etsy shop. I want to get a few designs honed and then make a LOT of them, with a few one-of-a-kinds thrown in for fun.

I also have quite a stash of vintage fabrics and upcycled clothing now that I have to start using before I buy any more. I am just so in love with the fabric, it's hard to cut it... but I don't have the space to be a hoarder. (I know I'm not alone in this!) So, over the last couple of weeks I've been seriously banging out some bags in the hopes of getting a decent inventory put together for the home show. I've uploaded pictures into my Flickr account - but here are a few for you to check out.

It seems I lean heavily toward bold, graphic fabrics - wouldn't you say? I have thought about embellishing a couple with trims and other bits of materials... but they seemed so "vocal" as they were I left them to just strut their stuff through the fabrics and colors. I do like the pocket on the gold and red one, and will probably do more of those. Vintage buttons? Pom-pom fringe? What do you guys think??

Projects for Spring!

Anyone who knows me is fully aware of my penchant for the "Project". Not big stuff, like tearing down walls between rooms or roofing the house, but mostly stuff that grows out of a stop at a local thrift store, a transaction on Freecycle or Craig's List, or an unexpected treasure found on the curb. Along those lines, I have a couple of things to share...

One visit to my local Craig's List recently got me a couple of terrific pieces of furniture that are now sitting on my carport waiting for transformation. The first one - a vanity-turned-desk is painted a horrendously bright yellow and has the Corona Cerveza logo painted on one side. (??) The woman I bought it from tells me her daughter used it as an art desk. Judging from the paint all over the top of it, I'd say she REALLY enjoyed it. It's going to go out in my craft room as soon as it's repainted - and as soon as the craft room is reorganized.

This cute little thing is a bit of a mystery. The woman advertised it as a painter's cabinet - which would be an interesting thing to use it for given the holes and such inside - but I'm not sure. The top is a little bit bowed up, but not so much that I can't still use it as a bedside table as I'm planning.

A little shot of inspiration please!!

Why is it that no matter how many ideas are running around in my head (or even being put down on paper) sometimes the desire to get into the sewing mode is just non-existent?? Today, for example, I really wanted to sew. I wanted to make things. I was bummed that Hubby and Boychild wanted to go to the park - even though I knew going to the park with Hubby and Boychild was a GREAT thing to do.

But then, when I got home from the park, I just didn't feel like getting busy in front of the machine. I think the key here is that I didn't FEEL like it. I think I have to quit waiting until I FEEL like sewing. I have to make a goal of getting a certain number of things done, and do them. I have new bag ideas. I have been wanting to play with altered clothing. I have some aprons already cut out. I just have to get them DONE.

Tonight, I got a great boost of inspiration in the form of an invite to participate in a trunk show with my sister in late May. She was invited by a woman who organized a show last fall, and I asked if they needed a bag maker. She asked, and I'm in. I'm going to upgrade my market bags made from vintage linens, and make some Elliot bags with new (vintage) materials and embellishments.

Okay, tomorrow I need to sew.

Craft Magazine Loves ME!!!

So, I almost missed it due to my well-documented issues with organization and time-management... but I got my photos posted in the Craft Magazine and Singer Sewing Company "Sewing with nature" contest last month. There were a ton of really cool projects posted in the flickr group, and I did not envy the judges.
The article advertising the contest said that they would pick one winner who would win a sewing machine and a heaping helping of sewing books, and three runners-up who would receive dress forms and subscriptions to Craft Magazine. I actually kind of hoped I'd be a runner up - I would DIG a subscription to Craft!!

The deadline for posting a project was last week and I've been checking every day to see if any news had been put up about the winners. Finally, yesterday I received an email informing me of the decision. I didn't win, nor was I chosen as a runner up, but the judges decided to create "honorable mention" category due to the number of great projects entered. Lucky me, I got mentioned honorably!

The bag is one I gave away at Christmas. The recognition has really satisfied a part of me that was struggling with the idea that my crafting is "just a hobby". Kudos to my hubby who has not dismissed my sewing as a silly girl thing I do, but he doesn't really see it as an income-generating operation either. Not hard to see why, when you tally up what I have sold over the last couple of years... but in the last few weeks I've had a number of sales in my two shops, and now this bag I designed my very own self gets some love. I have to say I'm feeling pretty good.

Place your custom orders now!! :)