Belated Christmas Wishes and a Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas! Our Christmas was spent quietly at home (yes, the hubby and I skipped out of the Kauai holiday drama!). I got a pretty sweet gift from hubby, but I'll save that for another post. And I got this cute ornament for myself:

It's an original ornament by Danita. I love the color; I love the dots. So cute! She will sit on my craft table.

This is a short post,but I just wanted to send out belated Christmas wishes along with a Happy New Year. Here's hoping 2012 will be a great one!!

Craft Fair Packaging

My packaging for the craft fair was pretty simple. Just kraft paper bags. For the flat bags, I ended up punching the tops (after the hubby trimmed 'em of the zig zag edges ... thanks, hon!). They were quite cute and unique, at least at this craft fair. One person bought a ring and said they wanted the ring separate from the bag so that they could use it as the "gift wrap" for the ring. So cute. Next time, I'm thinking of offering gift wrapping ... using the kraft bags, red tissue and baker's twine!

More Craft Fair Photos

Here are a few more photos from the craft fair ...

 Annies filling the gaps on the table. Rings resting on rice.

 Crayon rolls for the little kiddies. Most of these sold! I guess they make great gifts.

Push pins. Or thumb tacks. Whatever you want to call them. Makes great stocking stuffers for an office mate. Or so that's what a few people mentioned.

Bunting on the table. It was extra long for the table so it had to droop a bit. But it was still cute. Hmm ... not sure about the tablecloth I used (borrowed from Sis #1's wedding). It may have been a bit busy with the bunting. Oh what the heck, it was still cute.

Craft Fair Craziness

It's been nearly two months since my last blog post. I've been taking a break. Or that's what I've been telling myself after the craft fair I did in November. Yeah, a craft fair. Which was small, but boy did I bust my butt prepping for that show. Don't get me wrong, I've done a craft fair or two with my mom and her sister. I've even done the annual carnival country store (think craft fair, bake sale, and plant sale all wrapped in one ... talk about intense) for 5 years with them. So a craft fair on Oahu, hidden at the UH campus shouldn't be that big of a deal right? Wrong! This was the first one I did by myself, with just my creations. And I didn't go the dolls and bears route, either. I focused on my {guava girls} line that I've been playing around with for years.

So I had prepped a ton of pouches, clutches, earrings, rings, and a small bunch of other things to have on the table. I did bring along some raggedy Annies ... to fill in the gaps. My table was buzzing with activity from the moment the fair started. Thankfully, my sister ended up showing up in the nick of time ... I was about to go delirious with the steady stream of customers. Yes, that's always a good thing ... but my table wasn't completely set up. Not a good thing. Here's some photos:

The fair was on a Friday. I ended up prepping into the wee hours of the morning. This was the general setup I was going for (thanks for the use of the bed, Jess!). Don't mind the lighting ... this was about 4:30 in the morning. Yeah, I didn't go to bed until 5am. And then up at 6:30am. I don't recommend that at all.

 This is the table at the fair. A bit messy, but this was taken at the end of the day when I had sold a ton of items and there were some major bare spots on the table. Someone actually asked me if the mirror was for sale. Weird.

I did mention that I brought along my Annies. They sat perched at one corner of the table with one of my fake Christmas trees. Cute. The Annies will soon have a photo session and will end up in the shop.

Some zipper pouches ... I made over 50 of these! Yeah. Unreal. All out of my coveted kawaii fabrics. These were popular. But not as popular as the earrings, rings and bobby pins:

These jewelry accessories were popular. Probably because they were reasonably priced and that's great for the students who visited between classes. Interestingly enough, the rice was a big hit ... people thought it was such a clever idea!

Needless to say, I did better than I expected. Thanks to all the customers that stopped by and purchased stuff. I really appreciated all the support and the kind words!! And yes, I would probably do it again. Had you asked me a day or even a week after the fair, I would have said "Heck no!" Actually I did say that, multiple times using a little harsher word. Heh heh. But now that some time has passed (and I have pretty much stayed out of my craft room), I've now changed my mind and have decided that I will do it again. And maybe more than one next year. We'll just have to see how much crafting I can get going ... oh ... and maybe the {guava girls} Etsy store will be open soon, too! Stay tuned!

Weekend Plans

Seems like I've been really unproductive these last couple of weekends. Sigh! But the weekend is here again (amazing how fast the week flies by) and I am hoping to get lots of sewing and crafting done. What was I up to last weekend? Doing all kinds of odds-and-ends!

Meet Raja. This little fella belongs to my niece, Izzy, who drags this tiger all over (if she's not carrying Simba). Raja is named after Princess Jasmine's tiger in Aladdin. Yeah, this is my niece who is not even 2 yet! Anyway, poor Raja's arm was torn and I had to do some surgery to prevent stuffing from falling out (or being pulled out by little fingers!).

Then the little miss paid us a visit to pick up Raja ... and eventually ended up outside playing in the dirt with her little gardening tools. And uncle Greg.

Spent some time stitching some crayon rolls for the craft fair.

And then spent some time cutting Keyka Lou's Box Wallet. I ended up with a stack of about 10 wallets ready for interfacing and stitching.

So now you know what I'll be working on this weekend! How about you?

An unproductive weekend ... and a sweet doll

 Sadly, my weekend was very unproductive. I punched some kraft merchandise bags with a scalloped punch (photos later), but that's about it. No sewing, no stitching! But at least I have today and tomorrow off, so I plan on making up lost time. Wish me luck!!! I'm going to do a few more pleated pouches and then try a couple more clutches (using different interfacing combinations ... haven't perfected this yet).

The doll above was made for my little niece on her 1-year old birthday, last February! Yeah, I'm only getting to post it now. And don't mind the processing via Instagram. I need to find a better photo of the entire doll ... anyway, I think she was named Marina. Cute. I made her using the Inside a Black Apple's tutorial found on Martha Stewart. I did have to give her a slightly different hair style! Including little pigtails and a cute felt flower! I think next time I have to design my own doll ... I didn't like the way the arms came out. And hey, I was stitching until 3am the morning I was catching a flight to Kauai! Typical!

Pleated Pouches

Seems like I have been one pouch-making machine lately. I whipped up a batch of these pleated pouches this past weekend.

 

These are really fun to make. And they're pretty easy. I used Skip to My Lou's tutorial found here. I'm thinking I might pull a bit more fabric combos and whip up a few more. Last Christmas I wrapped similar ones up for two friends.

I had grand plans to work on some crayon rolls this week, but work has been crazy! So no sewing for me. I guess I'll just have to tackle the crayon rolls over the weekend. Until next time ...

Finished Pouches

The pouches are done. Whew ... that was a lot. But my goal was to finish them by the end of last weekend, and I did!! Woot-woot! Here's my rainbow of pouches (sorry not the greatest photo):

I sort of lost some of my motivation after sewing all of this. Not sure why. And boy has work been taking a toll on me. Today was horrid! Anyway, I ended up cutting some other pouches. Even a tote bag. But no sewing yet. Ugh!

So to feel a bit crafty I put together a couple of rings:

I'm supposed to be off Friday and Monday and I was going to get stitching away. But because of all the craziness at work, I guess I'm heading into the office. Ugh. I'll just have to take a few days off in October.

I haven't found a new pincushion yet ... sigh!

Need: New Pin Cushion

I spent this past Wednesday babysitting my little niece, Izzy. I had planned to stitch the hair on my raggedy's after I put Izzy to bed. So I packed up my basket of dolls ... bodies, yarn, thread, pin cushion, needles, scissors. Little Izzy went to bed late, so no stitching for me. As I was leaving, I noticed my pin cushion was gone. I must have dropped it as I got out of the car. So I retraced my steps, but no pin cushion (it was late at night and dark).

Anyway, the next morning, I spinned through my sister's neighborhood to see if I could find the pin cushion. Sure enough, Hubby spied it on the rock wall. What was really weird, though, was all the sewing needles were missing! Maybe someone needed it for their sewing kit? Who knows. It rained during the night, so my pin cushion was wet and dirty. Bummers! So that means I need a new pin cushion. I scoured Etsy and found these possibilities:

{The Vivid Peach}

This one is cool because you can actually store tidbits in the jar!

{From My Atelier}

Simple and cute ... and I love ranunculus.

{feltmates}

Sweet love birds.

{woollyduck}

A cheeseburger! Different, but totally unique!

I'm not sure which one to choose!! I may have to think about it for a day or two. Which would you choose?

Progress

Zipper pouches are in progress!

I'm over half done and will finish all by the end of this weekend. Lofty goal, but I know I can do it!! I signed up for the UH craft fair, which is in two months. So I have to hurry up with the pouches and move on to more craftiness. Wish me luck!

Pouch Stack

 

Well, they're not pouches yet, but they will be soon enough. These are the pouches I cut and prepped all day this past Monday. 36 of 'em! And I cut each panel one at a time! Yes, you read that right. I've used a ton of my (coveted) kawaii Japanese fabric. Some of which I can't ever get again, hence my hesitation to keep them in the stash! The vast majority of linings are my tiny pin dots. Cute! I've sewn 2 so far. I guess this is what I'll be up to this weekend. What are your plans?

Curvy Clutch Sewing

I know I didn't post anything for the summer. But that doesn't mean I wasn't sewing! Okay, truthfully, I didn't do much sewing. But I did a little. In my last post, I showed a couple of shots of the raggedy ann dolls that I stitched and stuffed. Six of 'em! I know ... they still need to get their legs painted and get dresses, etc. Soon. I promise.

I also tried out the Curvy Clutch pattern by Keyka Lou, which I posted about at the start of summer.

Michelle's patterns are super fun to do. Once I made one clutch, I couldn't stop. I ended up with a total of 5 clutches in the span of about a week. I'm going to be trying the larger size soon. Maybe I'll be able to open my Guava Girls shop. More to follow about that soon (I hope).

End of summer

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day weekend. I was off on Friday, plus the Monday holiday equals a 4-day weekend. Which was great! I definitely need more of that. Can you believe summer is over? Ugh! It went by too fast.

I kept busy this weekend. I sewed a ruffle clutch on Friday, took my car in for service on Saturday, sewed a different ruffle clutch when I got home, had a nice lunch on Sunday with some Hilo family and sis number 2, and spent today cutting pouches for a possible upcoming craft fair. Like 36 pouches! Yes, you read right. I ironed, pinned, and cut; ironed, pinned and cut; ironed, pin and cut. You get the picture. I have a few more fabrics to cut, but I called it quits after 36. Now I just need to whip them together. Hahaha ... easier said then done.

These took a month to go from sewn ...

... to stuffed ...

Let's see how long it's going to take to go from stuffed to done (including legs painted, dresses sewn, face embroidered, hair attached). Oh geez, I just got tired typing all of that, so you know what that means. Probably longer than a month. My poor Etsy store.

Hello Blog

Ack, it's been over 2 months since I last posted. Geez. I see a pattern here. One post, months go by. Another post, more months go by. Sigh. Well, here I am again. I've been keeping myself busy the last couple of weekends! With crafting of course! Heh heh!

Have I mentioned that I'm addicted to fabrics? A fabric addict is what I am. No joking! Anyway, I've actually stopped buying fabrics for a little while. Why? Well, I've got no room in my closet anymore. Sigh! So that means I either need to find more space (doubtful) or start using some of my fabrics to make room for more!! But I have another confession ... I'm a fabric hoarder. I hate cutting into my fabrics. Especially my favorites. Like Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane line. If I could marry fabric, this would be it. I mean, it even has it's own little featurette!



So I decided to start stitching. And I actually used some Nicey Jane fabric. I decided to try Keyka Lou's Curvy Clutch pattern. And here it is:

The pattern was really great. I love all of Michelle's patterns. This is the third one I've tried and the instructions are clear and the photos are great. Remember the first two I tried? The Envelope Clutch here and the Mini Keychain Clutch here. I think I might try the wallet pattern soon. But for now, I enjoyed making the clutch above and decided to cut a few more. So I spent the afternoon ironing and snipping away. Here's what I came up with:

A total of 5 new clutches in the making. Now I have to interface. Ugh! I don't like all the prep work. But it's worth it. So I will be spending tomorrow stitching away! We'll see how far I get ...

MIA

Yes, I have been MIA for two months. Lots of things happening. As usual, I've been busy with work. Ugh! I was on furlough last week and had planned to update this blog, but I came down with a nasty cold. I'm still coughing. Bummer ... so over half my furlough was spent in misery. Bleh.

I have so much to post about, but don't even know where to begin. I received my ironing board cover. It is so cute and I just love it. Here's a shot:

This photo does not do it justice. And as you can see (if you strain your eyes a bit), it sort of matches my desk cover and also the green peg board (which has nothing hanging on it!). So I love it. And this is one of my favorite fabrics. I may just have to buy another one to hoard. Hahaha! And as if this wasn't a great prize already, I got a freebie sewing machine cover pattern. I highly recommend City Chic County Mouse.

My craft space if looking spiffy ... now if only I could really start crafting. Sigh. Maybe this weekend ...

Sister Rings

The other day I posted about my growing cabochon obsession and the bobby pins I made. Here's some pics of the earrings I did recently:

Drying in a row

Tiny sakura studs

Baby pink close up

Have I mentioned I love pink? Anyway, I left these to dry in my craft room for several days. Over the weekend, I call my sister Jessie into my craft room to ask if she'd like to see the earrings. I was not expecting her response. You see, Jess isn't very crafty. I don't think she's ever been. So why would she ever really step into my craft room? Well, well, well ... she tells me that she's actually been snooping around to peak at things I have around my desk and in my closet. Hmm ... interesting. What's even more interesting is that she's "found" the earrings and thought they were adorable and had to try on a pair!!!!!!! Whaaaat???????? And I would have never known if I didn't happen to call her into the room. What a stinkin' little punk! But I did think it was kind of funny. Heh heh!

So, in the process of finding out about her little foray into my stash, she starts rifling through more of my things, specifically my small collection of cabs. And she discovers some ring bases. So, there Jessie was, begging for a ring. She chose a black mum cab:

And what does Jessie do with the ring? She flaunts it to sis Addy the next day. Can you guess what happens next? Yep ... Addy came by to search through the cabs to choose her ring. She ends up choosing a pink rose:

Now I'm waiting for is sis Mary, Tina and/or Loretta to put in their orders!

Winner, winner!

Me! A winner! Can you believe it? As I was perusing my blog reader, I came upon this post:

Okay, so it's not the greatest image capture, so if you want to see what I saw, click here. When I opened the post and read it ... I gave a little shout and immediately thought, "no ... that must be another Marlene." So I clicked on "Marlene" and surprise, surprise!! It led me to MY blog! Whoot! I won, I won, I won!!

Oh, what did I win? Hahahaha! Well, I've been following Candace's blog, Sparkle Power (her Etsy shop is adorable and she was the Etsy featured seller this week!), for a little while now. And I don't usually enter giveaways, but when I noticed she was sponsoring a giveaway from City Chic Country Mouse ... well, I had to throw in my name. This is a really great Etsy shop and I had stumbled across it a few months ago and immediately fell in love with their ironing board covers. I added this cover to my favorites:

Oh how I love Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane line. Love, love, love! So when I saw the giveaway, I thought I would take a chance. And it totally paid off! I did not think I would win, I never do. So imagine my surprise when I did! Of course I chose the Church Flowers cover. I cannot wait to receive it!! I hope it sparks my creativity. Or at least start to get my craft space spruced up! Ha!

I do have to say that Jamie from City Chic Country Mouse is the greatest! The shop has so many cool things ... ironing board covers, sewing machine covers, just great stuff. Besides the cover above, I really like this sewing machine cover:

Again from the Nicey Jane line! I love the lace trim. So cute. Go browse for yourself and find some goodies! I will be anxiously waiting for my cover and will snap a photo to share!

Obsessed?

I think I'm obsessed with these cabochons! These are from my latest order. A ton of 'em! They're all so cute. And perfect for bobby pins. I've been buying these things off and on over the last few months. I've accumulated a nice stash. But now I want to start using them. I made these quickies several months ago:

Pretty in Pink

Spring Fling

Pinks and Gray

Sweet Mint

I'm kind of partial to the cool minty ones. Personally, I rarely wear pins in my hair. Like never. But who knows, these may be too cute not to use. I'm not sure if I'd put these in my Etsy shop; there's a ton of these on Etsy already. I would definitely include these in a craft fair. But will I do a craft fair this year? I don't know, that remains to be seen. I hope to put a dent in my stash. In the meantime, I had better stop feeding my addiction!