Friday, February 26, 2010

99 Etsy sales on the wall...

Well yesterday I had someone order one of my tea wallets from my etsy store which was my 99th sale. One more sale and I'll have reached my first milestone....100 sales on etsy!! My first sale was on September 19, 2009 and it took me a couple months to really figure out how to get sales using that site.

Just thought I'd share the news. Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Just a little pouch...

A friend of mine was looking for a little pouch to hold a stack of store and gift cards that she was holding together with a rubber band so I came up with this...it took me several attempts to get the size right but I think this one came out good. (I know I'm loving this orange and green fabric right now!!)

Its approximately 3"x5" and closes with the same elastic strap and fabric covered button. I found it to be the perfect size for my new Canon Powershot camera which I had been needing to make a case for...only I can't take a picture of my camera in the pouch since I don't have another camera handy! Go figure!

Thoughts??

Monday, February 15, 2010

Tea Wallet Roll

Yesterday my mother in law came over and had an idea for something to carry your tea bags with you. I thought I'd take the concept of my Crayon Keeper rollups and make one for tea bags. This one will hold 4 tea bags (I even stuffed 8 in there and it still closed just fine) and folds closed to a nice 2 3/4 by 3 3/4 size. Its made with two coordinating cotton fabrics and a matching fabric button with elastic closure.

Hope you like it. I'll be adding it to my etsy store once I have a few completed.




Saturday, February 13, 2010

A posible new item for etsy...Love Your Lunch Box Bag

My friend Susie over at Chinny and Poom suggested that I make a little lunch bag to sell in my etsy shop...she was initially thinking of the kind that roll down like a paper bag but then she came across this pdf pattern on etsy. It is super cute huh? I did some research and didn't see very many that had this shape and since you are allowed to sell items you make with this pattern I purchased it. A lot of times when you purchase patterns you cannot sell them. So I'm glad this one does!!



The bag is called "Love your Lunch Box Bag" by Virginia. (Just click on her name to access her blog which has a link to her etsy shop where she sells several different PDF patterns as well as some adorable stuffed owls.)

I'm going to give this bag a try and see how it goes. I'll post it here when I'm done then decide whether to sell or not!

Stay tuned!!

Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Sak Saver Baggie Review and Giveaway

My baggies have been featured and reviewed by Desiree over at the Wee Share blog Head on over there and check it out. You could win a free Sak Saver baggie! Check it out!!

Thanks Desi!

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

A big fabric bummer...

Well, I just found out that the place where I was getting my designer fabric at such a great price is no longer offering their end of bolt specials. I have been able to offer such low prices on many of my items because of the awesome deals I was getting.

I will now have to either search for another site where I can get the same great fabrics at less that retail, or start paying full retail - not something I really want to do. And this will most definitely affect my cost of supplies. Therefore, I will have to gradually start raising the prices of the items in my etsy shop to offset this cost. I will still do my best to remain a high quality well made cost effective shop!

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Fleece Tie Blanket tips

Late last year I made my very first one of these blankets for our MOMS Club fundraiser. It wasn't too hard so I decided I would make a couple for Christmas presents. Well a couple turned into 5, then I made 2 additional blankets for gifts. So thats 8 blankets in less than 2 months. Everyone loved their blankets but these would not be something I would make and sell so I wanted to share a few tips and tricks I learned over the course of making some many No Sew Fleece Tie Blankets...this will be somewhat of a tutorial on how I make them. I've never done a tutorial before so bear with me.

First pick 2 pieces of fleece fabric. I generally do a print and solid. To help you decide how much fleece fabric to use: I used a half yard or so of each type of fabric for a baby blanket. A yard of each for a toddler size. A yard and a half for a small child and 2 yards of each fabric for and adult/teenager/almost teenager.

I lay whichever piece is bigger on the bottom and the other on top with right sides facing out. Once is it all lined up I cut off the excess fabric so both pieces are the same size.

I measure out a 4"x4" square from a piece of paper and cut it out. Then use this patter to cut out the corners of the blanket. Repeat for all four corners of your fabric. You are then left with eight little squares. (note: I used a little bit smaller square for the baby blanket. It makes it a bit harder to tie but still doable)

Now I used all those little squares as my guideline for cutting the strips I will be tying. Like this. Just line your paper square with the edge of the fabric and place a fleece square above it. I found this saved a lot of time having to measure how far to cut the strips!

Then start cutting. I used my thumb as a guide for how wide each strip would be. I'd say mine are just about an inch or so. (A special Thank you to my 4 year old for taking this action shot of me cutting!!)

Once I have about half a side cut, I will tie a few knots to hold the blanket in place in case one of my kids come racing by and gets their foot caught on it...(oh no...this has NEVER happened!!)

Here is the tie method I use:

Hold both pieces of fabric like this:
Loop it around and over your index finger
Bring the two pieces up through the center of the circle and pull both ends through


Then pull your knot tight. This way you don't have to double knot your blanket.

Now repeat this for all four sides. Your blanket will look something like this:


Now you are ready gather your unfinished blanket and plant yourself on the couch or favorite chair, turn on some music or the TV and start tying the rest of the knots. I don't use pins or anything because I've tied a few knots on each side to keep it in place. Just make sure as you're tying your knots you align the top of the cuts for each strip.

And VOILA...a No Sew Fleece Tie Blanket that will sure to keep you warm during those cold winter months.

Let me know if you have any questions or feel free to share your own tips and tricks!!