here's my card

just updated the shop with 12 new card wallets. i think i'm kaput on these little buggers, at least for now. i'll have a few new, different items to add hopefully by the end of the weekend.

almost...but not quite

i added a few more items to my shop last week. almost made it to 50 but fell a little short. finally busted out the alexander henry pear fabric and added a few items using it. card wallets seem to be a popular item so i'm off to make more. instead of five i'll probably make ten.

i'm still in the process of painting the bathroom. got all the green up and a coat of the blue. i'm not really digging the shade of blue i chose so i might have them exactly match the fabric for the window treatment. i did for the green and i don't know why i didn't go ahead with the blue too. live and learn.

remember this? i didn't name any names back then but i just got an email about it yesterday. read more here.

bag lady

latest additions to the shop. although this one is already sold! i've got to freshen everything up. my goal is to have five of everything and i'm already behind. i guess that's a good thing.

while my mom was here, she asked if i could make her a tote. i let her pick out the fabric and she gave me the specs on what she wanted: pockets on the sides, slit pocket on the front and sturdy enough to stand on it's own. i started while she was here, but decided it'd be better to finish after she had left. (i don't work well with someone standing over me). i finished and it's already in the mail. hopefully she's happy with it. a couple of firsts for me: using piping, batting and making a slit pocket. i think i love piping now. watch for it in the next installment of new items. here's some more photos of the bag.

we just got back from seeing the new batman flick. more about it tomorrow, the dogs are starving for attention and i'm starving for some mint chocolate chip ice cream. yum!

hanging with my gnomies

i'm about to add these little buggers to my shop. i had made these bottlecap pincushions a few months ago and decided they needed a little pizazz in order to list them in my shop. what better way then adding a few polymer stick pins. being they were mushroom in nature, i thought a gnome would compliment them perfectly. they turned out to be an adorable combo.

i also did a coffee mug pincushion with matching flower stick pins. it also turned out great. i'm having a hard time parting with them, but i'm sure they'll find a good home. hopefully, when i'm in maryland this weekend, i'll be able to find more retro-looking cups, i haven't had much luck around here. i had fun making these and am looking forward to my next batch.

on that note. i've updated today instead of tomorrow. i'm heading to maryland for few days tomorrow. flying solo again. my main agenda is to give my mom a little company while my dad is in iraq/qatar. tomorrow night we'll be hitting up insubordination fest where the copyrights will be playing. (no, my mom is not going to rock out with us! just brian and luanna) saturday we'll be partying with cole as he turns one. sunday getting a little shopping in, checking out the local thrift stores and ikea. pretty jam packed weekend. i'll be bringing my mom back with me so she can get a little mountain air this summer. i guess i better get packing.

how 'bout dem apples?

i've been hoarding a bunch of japanese fabric i got last year. i didn't have a particular plan for them, but they were too cute to pass up. they're fairly expensive, so i wanted to use them sparingly or at least have a craft i've perfected before i put them to use. today, i finally made the cut. luckily this project only used 1.5" squares, so i barely used any. i listed a few and will probably list more next week. i have a red apple set that i wanted to try and attach rhinestones to. things didn't go according to plan, a little too messy for my taste. i have to figure out what glue to use and get a pair of precision tweezers.

on a fabric note. when i was in carbondale i saw that jo-ann's started carrying alexander henry fabrics. maybe they've always been there, but i'm just now noticing. i picked up some cute apple and pear fabric and a bold floral print as well. no plans yet, but i'm sure something will come to mind. i guess i need to replenish my checkbook covers this weekend. who knew they'd be so popular.

blue sky

another jam-packed weekend is finally over. i honestly don't think we could have fit any more into our weekend. graduation, vineyards, cardinal game, geocaching...etc. or i should say carbondale, springfield, carbondale, st. louis, carbondale, boone. it was a lot of fun and we both had a blast but it always takes a few days to recuperate. which mainly means housework needs to get done, groceries need to get bought, and laundry needs to be washed.

i've had my cell phone for over a year now. mainly using it for talking, texting and picture taking. a few weeks ago, while i was bored at a crawdads game, i figured out how to check my email using it. welcome to technology, susan. well, on our way back to illinois i was completely giddy i when i found out i had sold things from my shop via cell phone. even had requests for custom items. i wake up saturday morning with another sold message. how neat. of course, i have a standard phone, no special keypad for texting so i can't really respond but it's nice to be in the loop even when you're out. i do love technology. and thanks betsy and jen for shopping with arudegirl!!

skulls and spiders and cozies, oh my

i only listed a few new items today. i had to run a bunch of errands before leaving for illinois this afternoon and it's eaten into my update time. these were my attempts at ipod nano cozies before they got even smaller than they were. they're perfect to carry small items (lip balm, single tampon or small change) in, so they weren't a complete waste.

my pictures are all over the place. i can't get the lighting i want to be consistent and it's bugging the heck out of me. when i get back, i'm gonna be spending a lot of time figuring this out. at least you can see what i'm selling even though the pictures look like poo! oh well.

that's just tacky

today's project: fabric covered thumbtacks. i've been trying to figure out what i was going to do with this huge bunch of button covers that i ordered a few months ago. i had planned on using them for ponytails, but they were a lot smaller than i thought. i need to keep a ruler handy when ordering things online. well yesterday i found a way to finish the backs so you don't see the ugly glued tack. just add a little felt. i just added three sets to my shop. i'll probably add more soon but i want to find some more vintage looking fabric. these were made from the scraps of my thrift store finds. nothing goes unused in this house!

while i was listing, i looked up at the number of items in my shop. after adding the tacks there should have been 33. HOT DIGGITY! i just sold something!! awesome!!!!

i'm OPEN

after months of preparation, i am FINALLY OPEN! i've listed a few items and will be listing more over the weekend. hopefully weather will cooperate so i can get more pics of every individual item. i forgot how long and tedious it is to list every single item. (taking and cropping photos, listing all the tags, etc.) luckily most items are similar so it wasn't too bad. being creative with descriptions....quite difficult and ending up on the cheesy side. enjoy. comments, criticisms, questions welcome. thanks for everyones support!!

here to inspire

i was clicking through craftster and found my poly creations on the inspiration page of a diy kit. *blushes*

by the end of the week, the shop will be up and running. how sweet is that!?! if you've seen something you like that i've created let me know. i'm happy to do custom orders. i probably should have announced that a long time ago.

arudegirl production

shop production has begun.

one a day

they've come back to haunt. garden gnomes! when in asheville a few weeks ago, our lovely host had an abundance of these little devils sprinkled throughout her yard. i started snapping away, knowing i'd be doing something with them somewhere down the line. first project: gnome notes.

man, does it suck not having a desktop publishing program. quark, indesign, anything is better then using microsoft word. i was able to punch out 3 sets of cards before my printer went kaput. inkwell is now dry. i gave a set to jill for her birthday and am selling the other two in my swap shop. i'm not too happy with the colors...wanted them to pop. once i get the bugs ironed out i'll make some more. hopefully i'll be designing aaron's office website and i'll be able to afford creative suite. how to break down the difference between programs: creative suite is equivalent to a lexus where microsoft word is a fiat. dumb comparison, since i haven't ridden in either. but you get the gist.

my swap shop is basically a place for my practice projects. i've been trading practice projects for more materials, i.e. buttons, fabrics. it's kinda nice having that option. they'd be going to waste otherwise. i've gotten a few cool items, but i'm finding my style and everyone elses are very different as far as finished products go. so basically i've been sticking to supplies.

i've also found that i need to give myself goals. otherwise i push things off and they tend to never get done. i've decided to do a project a day. at least attempt to. five items. two for practice and three to sell. unless, of course, they are perfect from the get-go. i am finding i am a little OCD when it comes to setting up shop. the sewing needs to be perfect, the photos have to look great and the marketing materials have to shine. at this rate, i should be open....never! ;)

fold-over clutch

last week i hit up a few thrift stores in the neighborhood, mainly looking for animal print fabric for carrie. she asked if i could make her a leopard print shrug for her halloween costume. i was hoping to find something already made that i could just reconstruct. i'm not too comfortable sewing wearable clothing. unfortunately, everything i found she didn't like and now i'm going to have to construct something from scratch. i'll post photos of my success or failure next week.

on my quest, i did find a big bin of fabric scraps. and stuffed in said bin was a set of vintage pillow shams. i used one last night and made this fold-over clutch. i'm quite happy with how it turned out. it'll be added to the shop when i get it started. still in the process of making inventory. i still can't decide if i want to concentrate on one type of item. handbags, baby wear or just have a hodgepodge of everything and anything.