New etsy mini for faves

It is another new week and Saturday I posted my new faves on the mini to the left. This week I used Etsy's pounce feature to show off some artists that have never had a sale. I love the photos and art work.

I have a big show coming up on November 1st that I need to stock up for. I just can't seem to find the time! I really have to get of the computer and start sewing! So, with that said this will be a short post so I can make at least one bag today. Have a good day everyone!

It's a good Day!

Things have been pretty glum here lately. Money worries, slow sales on my handbags, the economy, etc. Today was a good day! Clean bill of health from the dermatologist: which is especially important to me with my mom having had melanoma 3 years ago and her brother dying from it 2 years ago; sold a purse on Etsy, got an order to make some pillows, and we have a busy weekend coming up.

Hopefully this will be the start of an upward swing. With each sale I just think of all the new people that will hear about my designs which will bring in new business.

Designed a new evening bag the other day and I am going to make a bunch in different fabrics for the holidays.

Check it out and until we meet again.. keep positive, keep smiling and keep doing what makes you happy.

Fabric Stashing and addictions

I have to come clean, I really am addicted to fabric. You know the economic fact that even in the worst of times women will still find the money to buy a lipstick? Well, the heck with a lipstick, I will still get fabric!

I love it. I love the colors, the patterns, the texture, the smell of it, the way it feels draped over your hand, the endless possibilities in what I can shape it into. Fabric has personality. Each piece is unique and speaks to me about what it wants to be.

Vintage fabrics are the best because of the history attached to it. When I get a new vintage piece I love to think about who owned it, how many lives it has seen, how many tears, hugs, or laughs it has witnessed. I love the worn soft feel of vintage cotton. The colors and prints are so different than today. It is comforting to me and reminds me of a simpler way of life I wish was still around.

My fabric stash is growing out of control. My studio is small. Only 10x10 and I make use of every inch. However, even though I have been making bags and cranking out product, the fabric doesn't seem to go down. It's like when you have to eat something your not crazy about and even though you keep taking bites, it never goes down.

If I ever win the lottery, I am going to put an addition on my house for my studio. then my current studio can be one huge walk in closet just for fabrics!!! Aah! the shear joy of it.

I'll keep dreaming!

14 years ago today

Today is my oldest daughters 14th birthday. 14 years ago today I became a mother and my life changed for the better. It was an easy labor and only 7 hours long. All 7 pounds 3.5 ounces and 21 inches of her was perfect in every way. She was a happy, free spitirited, outgoing little girl and she has grown ito this amazing young woman I would want as a friend.

Kate lights up a room when she enters it. She is tall, thin, and her beautiful red hair and green eyes grab your attention. She isn't afraid to do her own thing and is so much more outgoing then I was at that age. She has every good trait you would want in yourself. She is wonderful with children and is a very popular babysitter in our neighborhood.

Kate is a very talented actress and singer and has had several lead roles in community theatre, and school productions. She has a great imagination, always has, and is also very good at drawing, and writing.

For all these gifts that she has, today makes me think of what she has given to me. She has made me love life more. Being her mom has been challenging, and there were times I would just say "grow up!" as she was busy playing another pretend game. But now that she is growing up I realize that I was the one that needed to grow up. I needed to learn from my daughter that life is meant to play pretend and to sing and dance when you feel like it no matter who may see you. I need to care less what others think, and do what makes me happy. Kate has taught me that.

She has also taught me to look for the good in everyone. She is always the first to find something positive to say about someone that may look weird, or act weird, and she is always there to stick up for her friends.

My life has been blessed in so many ways. I only have 4 more summers with her before she leaves for college and is on her own. I know we will always have a special relationship but my how the time has flown.

When she was 3 she told my mom "Grammy you make my heart smile" Kate has made my heart smile for the past 14 years.

Happy Birthday Kate!

I hate paper clutter!

School has only been in session here since 8/25 and already I am swamped with paper for all three girls. Between fundraisers, permission slips, lunch menus, weekly calendars, school lists, and mail I am drowning in it.

No matter what creative way I have tried to organize, it still clutters my counters and island, and desk, and drawers....
I try to be neat. Really I do. but I always end up not being able to throw any away because at one point I will need it.

So much for us trying to live green. I wish everything could be done on the computer but there are still so many who can't even email and they always complain when it is mentioned. I thought by becoming the Home and School President for the next 2 years I would be able to do something about this, but alas, no.

Well, I am off to bed. I know that right now it is only 8:22pm but I was awake last night between 12 and 4:30 with my mind racing and I just couldn't relax. Not to mention that I am nursing a really sore butt, legs and arms from my first spinning class last night. God was that hard! I think I should have eased into exercise a bit more because I can hardly move today!

Have a great night, enjoy your stay here and I hope to see you around my shop at Etsy sometime!

Handmade Holidays

I know its early, but I wanted to let everyone know that I will be having a handmade holiday season this year. I did so last year also making the women in my life handbags, and the men, fleece pullovers and PJ bottoms. My girls received nightgowns and American girl doll clothes and coats in addition to other gifts.

I have added some of my favorites from Etsy in a photo mini to the left. These Etsy artists are my favorites because their shops are unique and their products are original and beautifully made. I will change the list every Saturday to showcase a new crop.

This holiday season, check out Etsy for your gifts. Think of all the people you buy for, friends, family, teachers, bus drivers, coaches etc. Etsy has thousands of gift ideas in all price ranges and these are unique gifts that will be treasured more than the standard token gift.

Have a great weekend!

9/11

Today being the 7th anniversary of the most tragic day in my life, I send out my prayers and thoughts to everyone affected by the events of that day. I still remember every detail of that day like it was yesterday.

Please say a prayer that our children will be able to find a way to agree to disagree, and solve problems through words and peace instead of wars.

ramblings about ugly sewing projects

I posted a thread about this at Etsy but I thought it deserved a bit more ranting from me. Why is it that almost every craft magazine has the ugliest sewing projects? The knitting, felting, weaving, beading, ceramic ones are always really nice and up to date. The sewing ones are always tea cozy's, quilted table runners, sweatshirts made into something that my grandmother wouldn't wear, or clothes that would not have been fashionable even in the 60's or 70's!

With the exception of Threads which at times isn't that great, there really aren't any good sewing project magazines out there. Even just covering sewing is rare. There are hundreds of mags on quilting, knitting and jewelry making but only two or three on sewing and some of them aren't that good.

That being said I thought I show off my latest piece:

What do you get when you buy 'Handmade'

A fellow Etsian posted this and I thought it was great. To all those out there visiting craft fairs and looking at handmade items and wondering why you should pay the price they are asking, please keep this in mind.

What do you get when you buy Handmade?
You pay for:
The materials
The time taken to make the piece
The energy (power,heating, and other overheads)
The years the artist has taken to become a specialist in that field
The design of the piece
The talent that hand made artisit has to create the piece

also add that it will probably last longer than anything you would buy at Walmart, Target or any other retail store.

Fall decorating and new ideas

I love the fall! Being a natural redhead, it is my season because the colors work well with my coloring. I can't wait to get out my fall decorations and Halloween things. I am a bit crazed about Halloween. I love to decorate my home inside and out with cool Halloween things. I don't like tacky plastic things, but wooden signs, lifelike rats and crows and cool folk art are so great! I have a 6 foot fake pine tree that I decorate all year round with different ornaments for the different holidays and seasons. It looks so cute in my family room and makes a great conversation piece.

I had planned on getting out my stuff this weekend, but I got into a crafting mode and was sewing all day yesterday. I made a few new pieces that turned out great. Check them out on my Etsy shop if you want to.http://bstauffdesigns.etsy.com/. I have also been busy making some custom orders as well as marketing online and setting up another shop in dawanda http://bstauffdesigns.dawanda.com/. Dawanda is a European site that is similar to Etsy. I figured it couldn't hurt!

I also have someone passing along my shop to a friend of hers who owns a pricey boutique and is looking for handbags. She loved my things and wants to tell her friend about me. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Tropical storm Hannah gave us some much needed rain yesterday and today is much cooler and crystal clear! Now to just get in that crawl space and dig out the fall stuff....

Pets at Work

This is a typical morning in my studio with Bennett my cat and Buddy my yellow lab. As you can see they are hard at work helping me sew and create! My ironing board is constantly covered with black fur and I am thinking of taking up stock in lint rollers. This is the lesser of two evils though; the other being laying right on top of my latest project. How he escapes getting straight pins in his paws is beyond me.

Buddy is my 88lb baby who unfortunately lays right in the middle of the room. This is fine while I am working on the computer, but once I need to start cutting and sewing, moving around can get hazardous. I don't only mean hazardous because of the scissors and rotary cutter I am holding, but hazardous because of his gas problem. God forbid he eats anything other than his food, and the dog is a farting machine. In a small room, its a wonder I haven't passed out and hit my head on something. It really is bad and can actually bring tears to your eyes. But, we love him even though he is lucky he's good looking!

It's another beautiful but hot day here in eastern PA. Here is hoping Hannah will turn out to sea and not damage our beloved Outer Banks!

vintage aprons and being patient

Thank God the girls are back in school! I can finally get some things done without breaking up a fight.

I recently updated my photos in my etsy shop and I think they look better. A friend had told me to just take the pictures with a white background but that looked boring. The photos I changed are now in natural settings and I used eldest dd as model to give perspective which is good.

I got a request for a vintage apron but with a wider bottom so that the apron covers all of the hips. I am going to work on that today which should be fun. I wish more people were into aprons. I love them and they are such a cute fashion accessory. There are plenty of books out there, and magazine articles on this once popular staple, but I guess it depends on where you live.

I want to make some with sweetheart necklines and some ruffles for fun. I saw a shop that had some gorgeous aprons and the woman even has a retro kitchen in which she took photos from so it really added to the nostalgia of the pieces. She has a lot of sales so maybe I just have to be patient. We could use the money though!

I hate being patient. I have all these ideas and I know my stuff is great, but I hate waiting around for someone to discover it and buy it. Hopefully, blogging will help although I admit that I am such a newbie at this I don't know how people are going to be exposed to it.

But, on the off chance that someone, somewhere out there is reading this, check out my etsy shop at http://BStauffdesigns.etsy.com . Let me know what you think.

Have a great week everyone! Buy handmade!