And just like that, we are almost through April! I have just over a month until my middle child's high school graduation (and party), so the time is FLYING! I feel like I've fallen into a time vortex where it goes from 5 pm to midnight when I blink, and somehow I have done nothing. I really need to get back my motivation and focus, especially with a few upcoming shows!
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| New wall art. Might be going up in my house...or might end up at a craft show. |
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| All 3 together, to get an idea of size |
I feel like I can take a little tiny break, all the orders are on track, the boutique has been restocked, and I only have one pattern to test this week! Definitely time to work on destashing more of my extra fabric and organizing the sewing studio! Or I could catch up on some sleep...or do some deep cleaning...
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| The tip of the destash iceberg... |
I was fortunate to test the new Coronado Crossbody purse pattern from The Styled Magnolia, and after a bunch of raw edge wallets, clear projects, and other simple projects, it was a nice change!
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| I think she's dreaming of all the places this purse could go! |
If April showers bring May flowers, do April snow showers bring May skiers? It was a bit odd to wake up to snow, but not that uncommon for Colorado in April...I've even seen snow in May. We should be getting close to real spring soon, which means I should be spending time in the yard clearing out the dead stuff and maybe even planting flowers! I like the wilderness look, but there is a point where 'wilderness' crosses into 'neglected'...and we're getting close! Since I'm not swamped with orders, I can finally do yard work without feeling like I'm getting behind on important stuff.
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| All the recent stuffies! Just need tagged and dropped off at the Sweet Radiance Boutique |
I need to stop deciding to blog more, every time I do, life goes sideways and I lose an entire week! And somehow March is almost finished as well... The good news is that I am all caught up on the pattern testing that came in at once, and only have one open order! I'm still working on restocking things for the Sweet Radiance Boutique, hoping to take a trip down soon to drop off new blankets, stuffed animals, and notebooks! I might even switch out some purses on display, to keep it interesting. I'm also getting the spring cleaning urge to deep clean and organize my sewing studio, which I might actually be able to do this year since I don't have a ton of orders making me feel guilty for taking time to work on other things...
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| FINALLY getting the pieces glued into the tins...and I have matching finger puppets! Now to make more... |
I don't often make little bags, but this one turned out super cute! This was one of my earlier vinyl purses, and it helped me get over my sewing vinyl intimidation! The Mabel from Swoon is a fast little free pattern
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| All the fun and colorful animals! |
I like having a bunch of orders because I need deadlines and a tiny bit of stress to keep me productive and on track! I only have a few orders right now, which means that in my mind I have PLENTY of time to finish everything...which leads to rushing at the last minute to get orders out and finish up tests. I also want the orders to be interesting...yes, I can make a NCW wallet in just a few days (or hours if I'm in a crunch), but after making over 100 of them, they just aren't that exciting. I'm actually kind of glad I'm down to my last few scraps of the map fabric I use for them, and I can't get any more unless I get lucky in a b/s/t group...although I want to start offering the plague doctor version, to use up that stash of fabric, but that's a little different at least.
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| Latest NCW order - NOT a map one! |
I've really enjoyed having a little extra space in my schedule where I can fit in more pattern testing and fabric promotion, especially if it's pushing me out of my comfort zone to use some of my stash! I love how the clear vinyl looks, but for the longest time there were barely any good patterns to use it. The Styled Magnolia is really knocking it out of the park with all their new patterns lately, and the Aneira Pouch is another cute and fast one that can be made with either clear vinyl or regular vinyl!
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| I should have put something inside, to make the characters really pop... |
I really shouldn't be surprised that February is a bipolar month - cold and full of snow for a few days, then nice and gorgeous the next few days! I'm ready for winter to be over, and only have nice days, but then we hit the 'too hot to move' summer... I do love curling up on the couch with a soft blanket, my dogs, and a book, but I pretty much do that year round. It's just in the winter that the dogs come in covered in snow and try to snuggle with me and those are usually some cold and wet paws and faces! If I'm sewing when they come back inside, they like to run to the sewing room, still wet and cold, and sit on my bare feet. Or, they come in covered in mud and tracking paw prints all over. Thanks, guys.
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| My nap buddies |
Messenger bags are one of the most basic style of bags I make, but I still buy different patterns to get the features I want. For the amazing fabric from Knitorious Fabric, I knew I wanted something with straps, or 'manly' looking, not just a basic bag. I found the Sawyer Satchel and it had everything I wanted: cool accent straps, pockets, more pockets, a zipper to close it, and good sized!
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| Just hanging out on a ledge |
It seems like wallets are the popular patterns coming out right now, and I got the chance to test another new pattern, the Quinn Wallet from RLR Patterns.
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| The only orchids blooming right now, my Lego ones. |
I don't think it's gotten THAT much busier, but it seems like the work is starting to pile up! Or maybe it is just the mental load of all that I want to do, plus the pattern testing and fabric promos coming in right after each other! Either way, I'm grateful for a long weekend and time to relax and catch up on things. Or just read for 3 days straight...which I have been known to do.
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| The newly released Quinn Wallet, I'll be blogging it soon! |
In some ways, I'm a little sad that things aren't as hectic "can't catch up" busy as usual, but in other ways, it's kind of nice to have enough time to do the extra projects and take a breather every now and then! I have only 2 orders on the table right now, plus some fabric coming in this week to promote. I might finally get around to some deep cleaning of the craft room! I keep talking about it, and then somehow another week flies by without me doing a destash or organizing...
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| Random dice tray I threw on the machine for fun |
The lesson I learned with this project was, 'don't give me an excessive amount of time to prepare' because I will STILL procrastinate until the last minute. I've had the String Theory Funky Bunch 2: Electric Boogaloo fabric since last year, and it took me forever to settle on a pattern, then even longer to cut out all the pieces! Once I started sewing, it wasn't too bad (except for midnight sewing where I was THISCLOSE to attaching the gusset upside-down!) and I'm really glad it's finished!
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| I'm pretending the wrinkles add character, which is the justification I give for not ironing my clothes... |
It shouldn't surprise me that we are almost through January and that 2025 is already flying by! I think I've been getting things done, but it doesn't feel like it... We've hit that weird time of the year when it's all snowy/cold and nobody wants to do anything. Or maybe that's just me. Naps sound amazing and all I want to do is snuggle on the couch with my dogs and read books. It's a bit of a struggle to make myself sew and restock my inventory!
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| A few orders going out today! |
I love a quick sew, and ChrisW has hit it out of the park with another fun and fast wallet! Someday I will get out my Scan N Cut for these, which I'm sure will speed up the process about 100%, but for now, hand cutting doesn't take that long and still works! The Edgy Essence Wallet is a prettier raw edge style, with fun swoopy details.
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| A simple wallet, with a fun finish |
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| and you open it up, BAM! Card slots galore! |
The end of last year got a bit...hectic, so I didn't update my blog for a while! I need to make new plans for the new year, but I'm sure a lot of them will be recycled ones from last year. I really hope to get a bunch of destashing and organizing done in 2025, plus take in more orders! Last year they slowed down a bit, which was actually a good thing because I had a bunch of other things going on with the family that needed more attention. This year I want to work on building the business back up, and maybe offering more ready to ship things like smaller wallets and simple purses, while still making the more complex and fun ones!
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| New blanket design! |
I got to play with some of the new fabric from Knitorious that is open for preorder for just a few more days! The Anime round has a bunch of fun designs, and so many bases! I haven't watched Berserk, but according to my local experts, this fabric is pretty great. This was my first time using nylon repel, but I can definitely see myself using it again! It was a little slippery, but the thicker backing on it meant that I could skip one layer of interfacing and save a little time. I decided that this fabric needed a bold design to show it off, and found the Carter Messenger from Swoon!
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| I played around with my photo editor to try to get a better background than my new lightbox |
