FMI--To Do

Like FYI, but For My Info. I've started to crank the shop back up and have put out a new product.  The Embroidered Key Ring.

And luckily, there have been several people interested in them.  I've also drafted a new pattern for the Bowling Bag.  Plus a lot of other stuff.  So here goes another to-do list with deadlines.

~More key rings.  Got to get some more fabric for some.  I know of three that need to be done.  The other numbers I'm not sure of.  But those are to be done before Christmas.  After all, they make great gifts.
~An order for 2 dozen Christmas gift card holders--Thanksgiving
~The Bowling Bag prototype--ASAP
~Baby cords--Nov 21
~The 4 remaining wallet combos--ASAP
~A few Christmas presents that I can't mention because the recipients may read this blog :)--Obviously, Christmas
~Rice warmers--Nov 21
~Initialed Stuffie Monster for Josiah--Christmas

And at 10:45 PM, that's all I can really think of.  I can (will) always add more :)

To-Do List 10-21-11

This post is more for my sanity than anything else.  But on the other hand, I'm thinking about doing a giveaway soon!  Who's with me?

~Alter the peasant dress (which may entail more work than I thought) It's done!  (hehehe!)  And I didn't have to tear it apart!
~Belt and bag to match peasant dress (I have some nice microsuede polyester for this!)<-- This is not done because I realized that my poly suede doesn't match.  I think I'll just buy a belt.  And save the poly suede for a different bag.
~Make the "fur" lined coat--This has been put on the back burner.  It's not all that important that I get it done.  I have all winter to wear it.
~Dollywood bag--I think I'm going through with it.  It shouldn't (shouldn't being the keyword) take long
~A-line skirt with black, white and pink plaid material
~Make a tutorial for the selvage earrings.<--Got the pictures made!  They are super cute! 
~Remake a train engineer hat for an order.  I knew in the back of my mind that this might happen though.  I made the hat a little too small.
~Redesign my jewelry case idea.  I like the new design much better
~Made the executive decision that I'm going to All About Fabrics again tomorrow for some molded plastic zippers and rip-stop nylon--These are for new travel kits Turns out I didn't need molded plastic zippers.  Oh well, they were cheap
~I'd really like to make a "catalog" of stuff that I make.

Now for the new stuff:
~Try printing on ribbons and fabric using some tutorials I found online
~Make my Pretties with the wine satin and white lace.  Got that idea here --> Etcetorize
~Make the Sweater Bangles like I found here --> A Very Sweet November
~Make a Ruffle scarf like Merediths here --> Haute to Sew
~More Travel Kits and Gift Card Holders

And for the Must be Done Monday List:
~Get up early (hmm, this doesn't sound right, get up early on my day off...)
~Finish off my pedicure gift card from my Mother-in-law :)
~Find some bangles to make above said bangles
~Find some brown leg warmers, maybe...
~Find a dress belt if not done before Monday
~The Pretties
~Sweater Bangles
~Dollywood Bag
~Then if I have time, the pre-cut Travel Kits and Gift Card Holders

I should probably get up at about 6 AM.  That oughta do it.

No Awkward, Just Awesome!

I was going to link up to Awkward and Awesome again, but I realized there wasn't anything awkward (at least not that I can remember) that happened to me this week.  I got a lot of stuff done this week.  I think this post is going to turn into a done and to-do post with a few bits of awesomeness at the end.  Here's my list from last week with what I got done crossed off:

~3 black wallets for my Mother-in-Law
~Blue, green and brown wallet for my coworker
~5 Year Old sized Clemson Grayson Leigh hat for a custom order~Alter the peasant dress (which may entail more work than I thought)
~Belt and bag to match peasant dress (I have some nice microsuede polyester for this!)
~While I'm talking about the dress, make a scarf from the scraps (Imagining that it will be really cute with a white long sleeve tee and denim skirt) (See my WIWW post for this week for that idea) and earrings from the selvage
~Make the "fur" lined coat--This has been put on the back burner.  It's not all that important that I get it done.  I have all winter to wear it.
~Make up bags
~Curling iron holders Got one prototype done, it's functional, but I've got some tweaking to do.
~Gift card holders/wallets These are cute!  Got to make lots more for the Christmas season though
~Make a scarf out of an old grimey t-shirt as inspired by The Crafty CPA's T-Shirt Recyling Ideas (this link leads to her blog post which links to a tutorial)--I'll probably do this tonight while watching Storage Wars with Hubs Also in my WIWW post for this week
~Dollywood bag?
~A-line skirt with black, white and pink plaid material

So I have all that to do, plus a few other things:
~Make a tutorial for the selvage earrings.  The more I sew, the more selvages I acquire, and I think that these earrings will be a cute addition to any seamstress's accessory wardrobe
~Remake a train engineer hat for an order.  I knew in the back of my mind that this might happen though.  I made the hat a little too small.
~Redesign my jewelry case idea. 
~Made the executive decision that I'm going to All About Fabrics again tomorrow for some molded plastic zippers and rip-stop nylon--These are for new travel kits
~I'd really like to make a "catalog" of stuff that I make.  This comes after a friend who owns a salon said she might want to carry some of my stuff.  I'd like to have a brochure at least of the things that are in my shop and some color options.  It would be easier than saying, "go to my shop at whatever address" or "here's my business card."  I think this might get me more business than a card.

Ooh, I had almost forgot!  I had considered doing a party like Scentsy and 31 parties for my stuff.  This might take more work than I can handle before the Christmas season, but it's still a dream. 

And the bit of awesomeness that excited me the most this afternoon?  Old Navy has released this season's Performance Fleece!  I want these, especially the Houndstooth one, and they're only $8 this weekend!

Wednesday To-Do Sepetmber 28, 2011

I won't rambe on with a lot of junk here, I don't think.  Today's to-do post is mainly just to keep me up to speed with what I need to-do.  Especially since I have two days off next week!

~3 black wallets for my Mother-in-Law
~Blue, green and brown wallet for my coworker
~5 Year Old sized Clemson Grayson Leigh hat for a custom order
~Alter the peasant dress (which may entail more work than I thought)
~Belt and bag to match peasant dress (I have some nice microsuede polyester for this!)
~While I'm talking about the dress, make a scarf from the scraps (Imagining that it will be really cute with a white long sleeve tee and denim skirt) and earrings from the selvage
~Make the "fur" lined coat--This has been put on the back burner.  It's not all that important that I get it done.  I have all winter to wear it.
~Make up bags
~Curling iron holders
~Gift card holders/wallets
~Make a scarf out of an old grimey t-shirt as inspired by The Crafty CPA's T-Shirt Recyling Ideas (this link leads to her blog post which links to a tutorial)--I'll probably do this tonight while watching Storage Wars with Hubs
~Maybe I'll make a bag to carry around Dollywood.  I don't know.  We'll see since I don't need a bag to carry around Dolllywood.  I already have a good store-bought one.  It's just good marketing to carry around something you made.
~I scored some awesome black and white plaid with a pink stripe at Hancock today.  60% off!  It had a little water damage (the building is old) but I think it will wash out and I want to make a hot little A-line skirt with it.  I have all winter to do this too. 

That looks like a lot.  And I suppose it is.  But it's a lot of little projects.  I think they are acheivable, especially since I got the duffle bag and the dress done and I decided to think about the coat later. 

Oh!  And Hubs and I are going on another date on Tuesday night.  I took advantage of Outback's million steak giveaway, but the catch was you had to use the voucher Monday through Thursday.  But that's what days off are for!

It's gonna be a good two days off!

You Know That Dress I've Been Talking About...

That plaid peasant dress that I first told you about in July...that dress that I've been dreaming about since before that...that dress that I've been putting off FOREVER...yeah, well, I finally finished it!

Well, I say I finished it.  It still needs a little work because it's floofier that I wanted it to be.  I pulled a lot of fabric around the back to make it look the way I wanted it to.  And I'm going to make a belt that matches a little better (and doesn't have the buckle turned around to the back so it matches).  The colors also came out a little wonky on this picture.  It's really khaki, navy and wine colored.   

I'll have better pictures later.  This one was taken while standing on the edge of the bathtub, because I don't have a full length mirror, at about 4:30 AM because I was crazy enough to stay up late to finish it.  I was just so excited to show y'all something that I can check off my to-do list!

It's petite friendly (of course it is, it's tailored to me!).  But I think the best part about this dress it that I fully lined it.  Sleeves and all.  The broadcloth that I bought for the lining is so soft and it makes it so warm!  I can't wait to wear it to the mountains with some leggings and my western-ish boots!

Linking up here!

I'm Warning You...

This might not be a fun post.  There probably won't be any pictures.  There won't be any tutorials.  This means no one will read it because most people only read blogs for pictures or tutorials.  I have a few exceptions. 

There will be a massive to-do list that I can't seem to get done.  And it's of no fault of my own.  I keep saying that I want my business to be successful, but I really don't know how I'd make it work if it was.  I hate sewing when I get off work (keep in mind, I get home at 11PM, not 6PM).  I feel like I should be spending that time with Hubs even though he's usually half dead.  I'm also tired and usually ill when I get off work, and when I'm tired, I make mistakes.  And that makes me more ill.  My last sewing project I tried after I got off work ended up being thrown across the room and a few various other things were kicked around the room.  And I was covered in velvet fuzz.  I still have a bad taste in my mouth from that. 

So...I don't sew after work.  I don't sew before work either because I can't ever finish anything. 

Anyway.  Here's my to-do list for this weekend and the next few weeks.
~5 wallets for various customers (3 black for my Mother-in-law, 1 purple and yellow for one of my middle schoolers, 1 blue brown and green for a friend at work)
~Make-up bags for the shop and potentially a wholesale order for a friend who owns a hair salon
~Curling Iron/Flat Iron covers for the hair salon
~Fold over flap bags
~Gift Card holders for Christmas
~Market Bags
~My Dress for the mountains
~Figure out wholesale costs for most everything in my shop

My plan is to design patterns and figure wholesale costs this evening at work.  Then tonight I'll draft out the patterns onto posterboard and cut fabric.  Then maybe I can plug and chug at the actual construction tomorrow. 

Sorry again for a boring post.  But I feel like I needed to get that off my chest.  I'm sure I'm forgetting something too.  I'll be the last to know.

Tuesday To Do, August 16, 2011

It's that time again when I lay out what all I have to do.  I don't have much interesting going on in the way of anything else, and I don't have any pictures, so this post will probably be boring, but that will be ok.

First of all, what I got done recently:
~Took up the skirts that I made for my nieces over the summer
~Gave one of the graduation gift wallets to Morgan (finally) and because of this...
~Made 3 more wallets (with two more on the way) for her friends :)
~Started the Carolina (USC) purses for my nieces
         *My sister-in-law somehow came into possession of about 21 handbag straps that are ribbon wrapped around cotton webbing and gave them to me!  So in return, I'm making the girls purses with them.
~Made another wallet last night for an Etsy sale
~Got my fabric for my dress and a market bag prewashed/preshrunk

I've been fairly productive

Now To Do:
~Finish Carolina bags
~Buy more key rings, somehow I've gone through over 20 of those things.
~Make a market bag
~Make a jewelry case
~Make my dress
~Make my jacket
~Make my hat
~Finish the dreaded duffel bag
~Due this week sometime--Make the Zebra Zipper Bag--I'd like to have this done before Saturday since I'm going to be featured in a "What's in Your Bag" post by Ellen over at Ask Away, and I think it would be nice if I used my own design.

The sad thing is that most of this will not get done before next week.  I'm working the weekend again and a 12 hr shift on Sunday.  Good news is that I will have 3 days off next week, and hopefully I will get a lot accomplished.  I've been drawing designs and thinking really hard about things, but until I can get behind my machine with my fabric, none of that does any good. 

What's on your To Do List?

Thursday To-Do July 28, 2011

It has been one wild ride of a week.  After my blog post last Tuesday, I was contacted by Four Green Fields Gallery in Summerville, SC through Etsy.  From looking at their website, I would just love to go in here, and probably will make Hubs stop there next time we're on our way to Charleston.  They try their best to use South Carolina artists.   

After email conversations back and forth with them, and a phone conversation on Saturday morning, I'm going to be doing a wholesale order of 12 wallets for them!  I'm super excited about doing the order, but as always, I've been spinning my wheels because of my work schedule.  I first had to wait on my snaps to come in, now I'm waiting on some zippers, but even if I had these things, I'd still be just sitting on them.  I've got the rest of today (til 10:30 PM), tomorrow and then two 12 hour shifts on Saturday and Sunday, then I'm free for Monday and Tuesday!  That's when I'll get the wallets made and hopefully mailed out by Wednesday.  If not, they'll get out by Friday. 

The lovely ladies at Four Green Fields also asked if I could make roll up market bags and jewlery cases.  They said they've seen these products around and would like to carry them, so I'll be working up an example of each too in the near future.  I had to buy some clasps and D-rings for these. 

Buying all these supplies finally got to me though.  I decided that I had reached the point where I would pay for all of my supplies with money that I've made from my shop.  Tuesday, I spent half of what was in my Paypal account on supplies.  Luckily when this wholesale order comes through, it will be more than replenished, but I keep thinking of things that I think I need.  Until then, I'm just gonna have to wait. 

I did start using Wave Accounting online to help manage my expenses, and I think this will be a good thing.  It makes graphs and charts for me (things I know Excel can do, but I don't want to make it do it).  I like graphs and charts.  I hope that the fun doesn't wear off too quickly. 

So my To-Do List looks like this:
~Finish Zinnia Head Band for Adrina--Due Tomorrow

~Finish Brown and Pink Grayson Leigh Hat for Kim--Due Tomorrow

~Do wholesale order of wallets--Due Tuesday

~Make examples of Roll Up Market Bag and Jewelry Case--Due Friday (this is tentative, just so I'll get it done)

~Take up the Girls' skirts--Due ASAP

~Get my hair highlighted by one of my best friends--Friday @ 5:30 PM :)

~Maybe take Hubs out on a date Friday after highlights

~Finish the duffel bag that has become a major hurdle in my life.  I just don't want to finish it for some reason.--Due September 15

~Make my jacket for the mountain trip in October--Due October 27--As an aside, I bought this pattern to make a canvas jacket with a flannel lining.  I'm using black canvas to make a jacket like the yellow one on the bottom.  I've never sewed with a pattern before.  This could be interesting.

~Make a matching hat for the jacket--Due October 27

~Make the plaid peasant dress using a fabric very similar to this that I've been dreaming of--Due October 27

And there is, of course, finishing the organization of my studio.  It's coming along rather well.  I'm still not entirely proud of the outcome, but Hubs seems to like it.  I guess it looks good for my usual state of craft-fairy-threw-up-in-here-ness.  I'll get pics and post some helpful tips on organizing stuff on a budget in small spaces that may need to move.

I guess the good news is that my To-Do list is cycling pretty well.  There are only a couple of things lingering there that I need to finish.  But it's just tough when you don't have a "real" deadline.  The duffel bag, for example, doesn't have to get done.  It's for my own personal use.  I'm gonna finish that thing or die.  Whichever comes firt.

Busy, Busy, Busy!

I'm back again after a blogging hiatus.  I surprisingly got almost everything done on my to-do list from the last post.  I didn't get the set of letters cut out for Emma's Harry Potter scrapbook, but after cutting the letters out for her card, I decided that it would be better to just invite her over for a scrapbooking party.  So, here's what I've been up to:

Emma's Birthday card and envelope.  She didn't want to open the envelope and ruin it, so it was surgically opened with a pocket knife.

My mother-in-law's second flower.  I put a leaf on this one because the yarn I used wasn't as big as for the black one.

And Hubs took some pictures of me modeling my crochet flower headbands so I can get them in my Etsy shop.  I'm not real sure why, but I like this picture. 

I didn't get the skirts taken up, but i figured that having clean skivvies was more important.   

What the Friday?

So besides the post on the Foil Pack Chicken Dinner, I have fallen off the face of the blog world this past week.  I was trying to get things done, and they just didn't happen as planned.  I'm not quite sure where my 3 days off went.  I even made a list, which ususally helps me get things done, but it didn't help.  I think I will perpetually be two steps behind.  

I did get a couple of custom orders made:

And I figured out why the white balance wasn't working that well on my pictures.  I had two different kinds of light bulbs.  I thought Hubs put the same kind all together in a box.  I was wrong.  Thus the difference in the top and bottom pictures. 

A high school friend also bought a Train Engineer Hat for her new nephew, and that was pretty exciting too. 

I think I'm finally building a customer base.  I've been trying to wear and use my products and some people that I meet in real life are starting to ask about things.  Hopefully this will continue.  July has been a very good month for my business.  I should probably start doing some book keeping.  Time to get out Excel, and make Hubs help me since he is and Excel guru. 

Now...on to the weekend!

Tomorrow night I actually get to go out.  It seems like it's been forever since I've gotten to go out on a Saturday night.  My middle niece is going to turn 10 on Monday and wanted to go to a Japanese steakhouse for her birthday.  Bless this child's heart, she always wants to make sure I can come because she is one of the few people who understands that I have to work at night.  Did I mention how much I love these girls?  So we are going to Wasabi in Greenville.

For some reason this one is never crowded.  It's a year or two old, very clean, very reasonably priced, they give you TONS of food (I take home about half), and it's in the busy part of town.  But it's never crowded.  I'll take it.  But before we go to eat, I have a mini To-Do List for this occassion.

~Emma is a HUGE Harry Potter fan.  She saves her money to buy the Harry Potter Lego sets.  She's very artistic, loves to read, loves to craft.  My sister-in-law told me that she wants to make a Harry Potter scrapbook and asked that if I find anything while I'm shopping that would work well in a Harry Potter scrapbook, that I get it for Emma.  I didn't find anything in the stores Monday, so I decided that I'm going to break out the Cricut and make her some alphabet cutouts using a free Harry Potter font I found online.  So that is to be done.

~I'm also making Emma's card.

~I need to take up the skirts I made for the girls.  They were about 4 inches too big, but I think that shouldn't take too long.

~I need to finish my mother-in-law's crochet flowers.  I don't know why I have been avoiding this.  They are practically done.  I just need to finish them.

~I need to sew and pack up another wallet that I sold.  I had every intention of doing this last night, but I had a few kinks in the custom ordered heart wallet and at 3 AM I was tired of dealing with wallets.

~I have got to wash clothes.  I know this is TMI, but I'm out of underwear.

I think i'll leave it at that.  Hopefully it will be a good night here at the hospital, no computer downtimes like last night.  If so, I'll go home, sew up the wallet, pack it up, and go to bed "early" (1 AM-ish).  Then get up early-ish and get to the post office and finish all of the goodies I need to finish.  I need to get back on a regular sleep schedule anyway.

Tuesday To-Do, July 5, 2011

I'm back from the beach, as my previous post indicates, and back to the reality that is my busy life.  On the main menu of my weekly To-Do list, is the Tuesday Time Out Link Party hosted by Reasons to Skip the Housework and Chef In Training

For the rest of my To-Do list, I think I'm starting over.  Most of my deadlines were supposed to be met for the beach trip.  I got all but the towel rolls finished, though I did make one towel roll.  I'll post pics, and maybe a tutorial, but it didn't quite work the way I had planned.  I think mine needed more fiberfill and it was a little bulkier to carry to the beach than I would have liked.  It might be good, though, if I was only taking that and a book to the beach as opposed to helping Hubs carry beach chairs, umbrellas, umbrella anchors, extra towels, sunscreen, a book, a hat and various other things that our nieces can't quite carry in their little arms. 

So here we go:

~Make more wallets, lots more.  In lots more colors.

This is what I had in mind originally for these babies.  We had to scan our ID to get in the cafeteria, so like this, you don't have to pull your ID out of your wallet.

~Make a few more flower headbands.  These are my latest and greatest creations.  I used the crochet Zinnia pattern to make them using Lily Sugar 'N' Cream cotton and they are adorable!  I made one for each of my nieces while we were at the beach, so I'm hoping that other mommies will be jealous and want one for their young'un.  Especially since Emma wants to hand out my business cards at her birthday party.  I love those girls!

~Make some more Teeny Tiny Bags like seen here in different colors of course (I think they'll be $20 in My Etsy Shop):

(Yeah, I know, I'm a loser for taking pictures in my car.  What can I say, I'm running out of time)

These things are surprisingly spacious.  I easily have several tubes of lip gloss, a stack of business cards, a Zippered Keychain Wallet, a Benadryl Spray Pen, a travel size bottle of Advil and a few other things tucked neatly inside.  The straps are long enough that I can throw it over my shoulder with one hand.  And the small size keeps me from cramming too much junk in there.  That's what my oversized zebra bag is for.  

~Take pitcures and list everything that I've made.  This could be a challenge.  I guess I've just got to bite the bullet and do it.

~Get Hubs to take my new avatar picture.  

~Work on my Halloween baby hat ideas.     

Oh, and I mentioned business cards a little earlier.  I finally got mine from Vistaprint a couple of weeks ago and never had time to post them.  So here they are:

I think that's all for now.  I'm sure there are a million other things to do and I probably won't get many of these done until next week when I have 3 days off!  Whoo hoo!  I'll, as always, keep you posted on the progress!

Tuesday To-Do, June 14, 2011

For alliteration's sake, I'm making my To-Do List posts on Tuesday now. 

The SS cookout was great!  My house was clean, the food was good (we are all very good Baptists), and the kids had fun.  Our neighbor has pecan trees and one of the kids found a pecan.  It was from that point on a coconut.  But we won't be having company again for a while, so I'm completely nixing the "prep the house" To-Do list.  But my crafting To-Do list keeps growing.

Hubs is gone on business again.  I don't like it.  He'll be gone until late Friday night, so I'll have to find things to amuse myself until then.  My problem is prioritizing things.  There are a bazillion and one things I'd like to have done by tomorrow morning.  The reason I'd like to have them done by then is because my Tools4Etsy ad goes live tomorrow morning!  When I signed up for the ad, I really thought it would be months before it appeared since it's free and the featured advertisers are chosen lottery style.  But nope, it's tomorrow.  So here's my attempt at prioritizing my To-Do list:

~Make the graduation gift wallets

~Make a couple more wallets to put for sale in my shop and list them.  Due: tonight

~Newest project:  Beach Roll--I've bought two large bath towels that I'm going to attatch a printed roll pillow to (handmade pillow, of course).  I'm also going to sew a strap on the back of the towel so that when it's rolled around the pillow you can tie it up.  Due: tonight

~Finish cutting out shapes for our Church Youth Card Ministry.  The kids were supposed to make cards last week, but someone only put out the cheesy boxed cards for them to sign.  This is no good.  I'm using the trusty Cricut to make some stuff for them to glue on.  This means that you will get free SVG files soon!  Due: tonight

~Sew the ribbons on the luggage for my Mother-in-law

~Sew beach gifts for my nieces (This is one of those things that keeps growing.  There is the Reversible Skirt, the Appliqued Tote Bag, and now the Beach Roll) Due: June 24

~Make the tutorial for the Reversible Skirt while I'm making one

~Finish the duffel bag and matching makeup/tote/toiletries bags that I started months ago and intended to carry to the beach Due: June 24

~Make the tutorial for the Crochet Zinnia.  Due: whenever it gets done

~Redo my shop banner, avatar, and some other things to finish rebranding my shop. Though I do have my outfit picked out, just gotta take the picture.  The picture will probably be made at the beach.  Due: whenever it gets done

~Make the concealed carry handbag I've been dreaming up for the past few months I have decided on the fabric and mostly the design for this.  I'm using the primary birdie fabric.  So there will be this cutesy little bag with a .38 revolver hidden inside.  I like the irony.  Due: whenever I can get it done

Look for pictures and posts in the next few days.  I'm hoping that even though I'm not happy with the fact that Hubs isn't home, his absence will make me get stuff done.  I'm in serious need of a fire under my hiney to get things done.