Summer is in full swing with HOT weather, random storms, and wildfires! The fires are one of the things I don't enjoy about Colorado, but the rest of the time it's pretty great...last week was very smoky and orange as the fire got close to our town, and we seem to be safe for now, but not the towns to the west of us. I just hope that the orders I'm sending out don't have a lingering wildfire smell!
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| One of the smaller blankets, but super cute! |
May is always a fast month, but it seemed to fly even more this year! Between a surprise graduation (a year early and decided the week before graduation to actually graduate instead of staying in and doing college classes), pattern testing, strike fabric, etsy orders, helping my oldest car shop, getting busy with the day job, and all the other day to day fires, I don't really know where it went! I do need to start focusing on getting stuff ready for shows soon, and the organizing and destashing I've been planning to do for the last few... years...Maybe June will be a good month?
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| I am all caught up on DCC, but I should go back and re-read at some point because I finished the first 7 books in a week... |
One of the good things about the orders slowing down is that I theoretically have time to do fun sewing and organizing...theoretically. In reality, my days fly by just as fast, and I feel like I'm not as productive as I was even 2 years ago...but I'm becoming ok with that. On the one hand, I'm not burning through my supplies so things are lasting longer, but on the other hand, I'm not burning through my supplies so there's no more room for new stuff! I WILL destash in May!
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| Finally tried out a dog walker bag, just need to make about 50 more for the boutique! |
I think this week I'll try catching up on this thing I've heard about...sleep. Maybe if I start going to bed before midnight, I'll have more energy after my day job. We'll see...or it will backfire and I'll wake up in the middle of the night and have trouble falling back asleep. While I'm figuring this out, orders are starting to come in a little faster, so I need to find that motivation to get all the things done!
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| Did making sleep masks inspire my sudden desire to sleep more, or is that just a coincidence? |
The end of the year is always a void time, where I forget what day it is, where I need to be, or when I showered last (If you live on the couch and read books, do you NEED to shower??). Mostly kidding on the showering. I was able to take off almost 3 weeks from the day job and it was amazing! My goals were to organize my sewing studio and my walk in closet that also holds extra craft supplies, plus do some fun sewing, and catch up on orders. I did some organizing, some fun sewing, and some orders...but I think I need to keep the organizing goal for the whole month at least. Maybe just do one area of the room per month, it's a LOT of stuff.
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| She's so pretty! |
My final craft show of the year is this Saturday, and I'm running both my embroidery machines to try to stock up after having a great last show! I originally wasn't going to make any more peeker hoods, but then I got in a few requests for Kpop Demon Hunter characters, and then suddenly I was in the groove! I have 20 hoods to attach to the towels before the show, and 3 of them are for orders. Hopefully they bring in some interest and I can also clear out the older ones! I'd love to get down to just one tote of towels...and have an excuse to make new ones with my towel stash!
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| 20 hoods there - waiting for final trimming and then attaching! |
Less than one week until my big show, and I've got PLENTY of time to do all the things, right?? Well, maybe not. I guess I need to figure out what is going to be the highest priority and go with that. First up will be packaging all the doodles (after they are all stuffed/sewn or trimmed), then I need to add buttons to the cowls and tags for them, stitch out more hand towels and blankets, and attach the 6 or so hoods I stitched out this summer to towels...plus I should stitch up more notebook covers and maybe sew up some crayon rolls or Moondance notepad holders....all in the next 3 nights after work. I can do it...right? (stop laughing at my optimism, please!!)
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| I think there are about 67 in that bag... |
Time to queue the holiday panic mode, somehow it's already November! I'm trying to get everything ready for the craft shows I signed up for, plus add some new stuff to the boutique, and let's not forget Thanksgiving! I'm pretty on track for the blanket goal, but that is tying up the machine so my doodles, notebooks, and wall art are not getting restocked yet. I'm hoping that by stitching up a few more blankets, I can clear the space to set up the spare machine, but it will probably require me to stitch up more than my planned 40... I really need to work on organizing and de-stashing after my last show this year!
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| The unicorn is fluffy! |
Surgery was a success, and recovery is going well, but I need to make sure I don't overdo it! I almost don't look like I was used as a punching bag since the bruises are nearly gone. I also have the embroidery machine back from the shop, and while I was warned that she's getting close to the end, she's still running! I will probably be doing some sales at the end of the year to go toward a new machine, so fingers crossed she doesn't give up before then!
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| Decaf is never an option for me... |
I only have a few open orders, and once those are done, I can focus on recovery and then restocking! I'm even planning on taking my embroidery machine in for a spa visit while I'm recovering, and then she's going to get a workout! I want to stitch up at least 40 blankets, and I need to restock my doodles and notebook covers since I have them at the boutique year round and my back-stock is getting low. I'm really hoping for fast recovery, I have too much I want to get done and too little time...I might even clear space for my backup embroidery machine and get that running too, then it will really feel like an industrial factory.
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| One of the few blankets I've stitched up recently. Need to do so many more! |
I can tell when it's getting close to October, suddenly I have an influx of orders on Etsy for pony ears, costume wings, and other random bows. It usually picks up speed at the end of September and goes for the first few weeks of October, but this year I'm going to have to disappoint any last minute costumers since I need to put Etsy on vacation at the start of October. That should give me enough time to send out all the orders that are open before I'm out of commission, hopefully! It's been a hectic few weeks -- I try to have backup supplies but this time when I went to grab a new box of bobbins, I realized they sent me the wrong ones! Also, my embroidery machine totally deserves a spa day after this!
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| Can I interest you in a few pony ears? |
And now August is almost over! Where did the month go?? I was busy the entire month, between school starting, day job getting even busier, lots of pattern testing, and trying to prepare for the next craft show in 2 weeks -- there wasn't mental space to update the blog like I wanted to! Maybe I'll finally have time to update in October, when I'm limited on what I can do...I might finally get everything prepped to auto publish since I have about 2 years of purses and sewing still left to share!
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| Are you as obsessed with Wednesday as I am?? New blanket! |
This summer is FLYING by and I would really like to have some time to enjoy it before it's suddenly Christmas...or at least more time to prepare before Christmas gets here! I've been working on a few things to restock the boutique and I WILL get them there this week...probably. I also committed to another event in September, our local Chili festival, which is a 3 day event and highly attended! I really want to try making some actual bags to sell at shows this fall, maybe the water bottle bags and some of the stylish bum bags! Just need more spare time...
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| I kind of love these! Now up on etsy and soon at the boutique! |
I didn't even realize that I have been unusually tired lately, other than taking several hour naps after work almost every day. Fortunately, my doctor caught it and now that they are on the way to fixing me, I'm finally getting caught back up on orders and starting to have the energy to work on inventory for the boutique and fall shows! I'm always open to suggestions for things to make, and love to hear what is popular now in terms of kid shows, fandom, and items I can make!
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| I have a bunch of supplies to make the fun stuffed keychains, guess I should do more! |
I have less than 2 weeks until a child graduates from high school...and I am NOT ready! I'll be taking vacation next week, to get everything ready and to spend time with the family, so I might just drop out of sight for a few days. The Etsy shop will be going on vacation starting Monday (as long as I remember to do that!) so I have one less thing to think about, but I'll still be working on the open orders! I'm hoping to squeeze in some time to organize my sewing studio, along with the rest of the house, but we'll see how I do on time management.
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| Started stitching up some hand towels, need to rinse off the stabilizer I use that looks like plastic! |
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. |
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... |
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 can't believe that the month is almost half over! I actually have all my Etsy orders shipped out, and only a few orders on the list for the end of the year, so it feels a little strange. Usually I'm in panic mode and rushing like a maniac to get ready for shows, but since I missed the one 2 weeks ago, I'm not feeling the usual pressure to make a million more things. I would like to get all the blankets stitched (and sold!) that are in my stash, plus clear out more purses and other things, but I'm also pacing myself and taking breaks as I need to. This week I'm packaging up the doodle dolls, plus stitching up more blankets and hand towels, but at this point I feel like anything I finish is bonus!
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| I wonder how many doodles it will take to fill this giant bag... |
