My new space.
Since finding out we’re having another babe, we needed to get ourselves a bigger place.
2 kids in a one bedroom?
Erm, no.
We have been on the wait list for a 2 bedroom in our building for so long, it seemed like it would never happen.
But then, it did!
So moved in just before May 1st.
And prepared for a rather large and um, slightly uncomfortable rent increase.
Ugh.
But no matter, we are getting our money’s worth and we’re not totally on top of each other.
And lookie!
I have my own space now!
No more dining room table for me.
Which I’m sure Mike and Matty very much appreciate.
Now, while I don’t have my own room, I have my own corner and it’s lovely indeed.
Here it is after a day of production.
And here it is looking a wee bit neater:
AND I get my own walk in craft closet!
I’m such a lucky girl.
Now yeah, that picture is kinda boring, and not all fancy and color coordinated like other pro’s closets. But whatevs, I ain’t no Martha and it’s fine that everything is in shoe boxes and mis-matched baskets instead of darling canvas boxes in all the latest springtime colors. It is neat though. And I hope to keep it that way?
Check my Skechers box yo.
Okay and because I had some empty wall space in there and we have a million trillion pieces of Matty’s artwork, I got to spruce up the expanse of white. I love his stuff! Especially the scary green monster there in the left corner. So awesome!
A lone craft and other much more productive people.
So here is the thing.
It’s been a billion years since I updated this thing, I know it!
But there is babe #2 a-brewin’.
And there was the move to a more spacious castle to be doin’.
So I’ve been absent from here and other places.
But the move is almost done and well, the babe still has a long way to go before we meet her (?).
In the meantime, there has been lots of “morning” sickness, lots of sleeping, lots of complaining, and lots of nothing else.
Yeah, I can be a whiny kind of gal.
Sue me.
The good news is, I kinda feel sporadically better and in our new place, I have my own work area. Yay! No more bogarting the dining room table for all my sewing needs.
I’m so thrilled to set up my new work space. And while I won’t have my own whole room for my business, I will have a large corner in our rather cavernous living room. Exciting!
I’m looking forward to filling my space with cool new artwork that I picked up from Etsy. I have a handful of pieces that I’ve had my eye on for awhile that will look awesome. As soon as my space is beautified, I will post pics.
Speaking of Etsy.
Recently I got a few trinkets that I haven’t had a chance to post.
These are the goods:
First we have a simple and pretty set of rings forged by the very talented Brooke Medlin. Her shop is gemmafactrix and it is quite cool. I love her use of medals and beads. Everything is somehow simple and intricate at the same time. I wear these rings stacked together, but they look delicate and sweet by themselves too.
And this pair of earrings, also made by Brooke, have quickly become my everyday earrings. They are just so friendly.
Next, this beauty was made by Katie at kjsallander. It’s a forget-me-not flower and I fell in love with it immediately. It looks adorable stacked on top of my wedding band, despite the fact that my band is platinum and this ring was created in sterling silver. Who says you can’t mix metals?
And finally, here is a ring (yes, another one!) that was purchased for me, but not by me. See here is the thing, being preggers, well there is the bloating factor, especially in the later months. Add on the fact that I’ll be hitting the big-time in the sweltering humidity of August and September, I knew my current wedding band would not survive. So I told this to Mike and he agreed to get me a temporary replacement while I waddled and wallowed around in all my knocked up glory. Ahem.
Here is what we picked out. Again, from Etsy, because everything there is awesome you see. Now this one is from Chuck Domitrovich and his shop is Down to the Wire Designs. And I swear everything there is so lovely. So keeping with my loves of silver and flowers, Mike bought me this gorgeous band.
Now wasn’t all of that jewelry delicious?
Okay, okay, here you go, I did actually make something over the last few months. I did a small school craft fair last weekend and in between customers and browsers, I kept my mind and my fingers occupied by hand stitching up some very adorable little red birdies. Ah-ha!
I actually like just holding them in my hand. But I believe I will be using some E6000 super glue to put magnetics on them and using them as promos from time to time. A little something special for those larger orders.
And last but certainly not least, in the absence of my own crafting, I’ve decided to share my awesome little Matty’s artwork. Since he clearly is being more creative than me lately.
This one is a favorite. I am just tickled by the use of coffee filter for a flower top. It’s beyond awesome.
So there you go. I haven’t fallen off the face of the earth.
Not yet anyways.
Oh, oh, where have I been?
Well, nowhere exciting.
Just here.
Just doing.
Just tired.
But for good reason!
Having thoroughly survived the holiday season, and needing to shake up our daily grind, in January we gave up our car and television.
It’s been interesting, to say the least.
So now, every day, I either walk or bike Matty to school.
I suspect that I will enjoy it much more when I don’t have to put on 12 layers of clothing.
In any event, I have been working on my things and such, but still find myself rather tired after all is said and done, so I haven’t been updating my blogs as much.
I’m just adjusting myself to all the newness and hope to get back into the swing very soon.
I did update the shop with some sweet new items though. Yay!
Actually, I’ve been so into fruit lately.
Which, is that weird?
Nah, it’s good! And yummy! And healthy?
Peek:
And hearts-afire baby:
And of course, the flowers:
materials used:
twill
canvas
cotton
zipper
interfacing
thread
button
cane handles
lightweight corduroy
nickel components
felt
dmc thread
I’ve been having a lot of new ideas floating around my head as well. Which is good, the creative juices, you know? I’m going to try some new techniques and new purse shapes as well. Plus I keep promising myself a new messenger bag. I’m always the last customer on my list!
Into the swing of things.
Well, yeah, not quite. Yet.
After all the holiday hopping around, traveling, etc., we’ve finally been home and unbusy for more than a minute.
But heck if I’m not having a hard time getting back on a structured work schedule.
Maybe I needed a sewing break?
Okay!
But being that I’ve purchased some advertising space on the front page of etsy, I want to bump up inventory considerably. Over the weekend I cut out a bunch of stuff and I spent my Matt-free time yesterday sewing a few new items. They’re already listed in my etsy shop and I’ll be posting them on craftysassi toot sweet. (Tuit suite?…or you know, erm, quickly?)
So here we have 2 cutie-patootie wristlets and 6 new hairbands:
I LOVE that cherry hairband!
materials used:
cotton
twill
thread
buttons
zippers
interfacing
wool felt
dmc thread
elastic
I love keyrings.
Lovey keyrings to be for sure.
I made these keyrings for Matty’s teacher and aides. A little wuv for Christmas. They do such a fine job of teaching Matty and keeping him safe and sound, I just had to show my appreciation. I baked ‘em cookies too!
materials used:
remnant leather
sueded leather
heavy duty topstitching thread
nickel keyrings
Catch-up?
Maybe soon.
I’ve been a real busy bee these last few weeks.
The W-L High School Bazaar went very well.
As much as I like to sell my wares, it’s always a bit weird to let go of one of my favorite bags. Kookey right?
I almost want to tell customers, “Take good care of it okay? Love it like I did!”
But that would be, erm, kinda creepy?
Yeah.
Ahem.
So anyways, I need to update soon and all and I’ve done some recent stuff and all, so I will.
But in the meantime, a bit ago I made one of my cute little letter bag sets for our niece Tai. Remember this?
Here’s the cutey herself, sporting her new wee tote. Awww.
Some stuff.
I have 4 events coming up in the next few weeks and despite knowing about them for quite some time, I’m sewing like a madwoman trying to catch up and plump up inventory. What else is new, right? This week, I’ve vowed to make 3 purses/bags a day so I have a healthy stock for the home party on Saturday and the craft fair on Sunday. Back-to-back. Nice! Hopefully folks will be in that holiday shopping mood. A mood which I can’t seem to force myself into yet. Ah well, that’s what December is for.
I did a wee bit shopping for a few needs recently though.
First up, I wanted something other than a business card to hand out when someone purchases a new bag. I decided on custom made magnet buttons with my shop address and little red birdie mascot. I got 50 of them from Kate Black, who has a cool etsy shop and website. They came super fast and look fantastic. Here’s to hoping that folks will slap it on their fridge and think of my shop whenever they get that new purse itch.
With my order, I also snagged me a new pocket mirror for my purse. Having only come across puny 2.5 inch mirrors, I love the fact that Kate makes a larger 3.5 inch mirror.
Reading is sexy, yo.
Here is a cuff that I’ve been drooling over for some time now. This is from Ellen’s etsy shop, Bonspiel!. She had previously only made them in smaller sizes, but I contacted her and she made a few larger ones for us curvy girlies. How cool is that? I love cuff bracelets. This one particularly because it’s leather and I think it makes me look tuff.
So having recently purchased another large plastic storage container to hold my inventory. (I’m up to three!) But something was up with this one, it had a heavy plastic-y smell. Which, ew. I didn’t realize this until weeks later. Not wanting my fabric bags to be infused with this stink, I set forth in searching for some homemade pretty smelling sachets. I found pillowhead over at etsy and thought Angela had the perfect product for me. I ordered her set of 2 (customized!) sachets. They arrived super-duper quickly and they look and smell great.
No, I’m not a doctor.
They’re so well-made and they have a lovely lavender smell. Ahhhh.
And finally, this one was from me and my hands. I needed a new purse. So I made one! Isn’t that cool how that works out?
I got this cool fabric from my fav, reprodepot.com. It’s called Forest Pods, which makes me giggle a little. It is a lovely canvas with an interesting pattern. I love the color.
(Did you notice my Hello Kitty calculator?)
Here, look at this.
I made new pencilcases over the weekend.
And they are cu-yewt! (That’s cute, but you know, even more.)
There are 10! Can you see 10? Click the thumbnail and you will.
It helps, as you’re watching, go like this, “blop-blep-bup-bop-boop-blop…” outloud. So people think you’re weird.
Oh and if you can’t see the animation, your computer is lame.
Kidding!
But I’m not computer savvy, so I don’t know what’s up if you can’t see it all moving and cool like.
But anyways, the pencilcases are in the shop!
materials used:
canvas
twill
cotton
zippers
shell disc beads
wool felt
craft felt
dmc thread
interfacing
What season is it?
Despite temps in the 60s, I still have yet to quell my desire (re: unstoppable URGE) to purchase flowery fabrics. Arguably, some can be considered for fall/winter purse production, which makes me feel better. Plus, I try to imagine my product catching on where the snow never comes and flowers are always in season!
