01 September, 2011

wind and rain and balloons and buttons and pies and bracelets and more

man, i was on such a roll with posting, and now, oops, it looks like i've fallen behind... sorry! i've been busy busy with custom jobs and other little things but here's a run-down of some of the other happenings since my last post:

i became obsessed, for about four days, with friendship bracelets.


two weekends ago, b and i spent some time with my family down at the beach and i brought my floss boxes with me so that i could organize them, and because i had it in my head to make friendship bracelets with my niece. i figured, heck, i've got about every color imaginable in this floss collection of mine; there's plenty here for bracelets!


well, the bracelets didn't happen that weekend, but when i mentioned my idea to b, he was just about as psyched as i was. so, the next weekend, as hurricane irene soaked the east coast with rain, i knotted strands of floss together to make a total of six of those grade-school-favourite accessories. b now wears three of them, i sent a couple to some boys in nyc, and i've got one here in the studio waiting for a friend...
and then i got over that kick... for the time being.

i sent out a mailer about the urban outfitters thing and my red-balloons-for-good project and then, about 30 minutes later, the electricity went out in our house, and stayed out for the next 22 hours.
in that time, the initial two balloons that i had listed in the shop were snapped up, and i was grateful to your positive response to my project. i stitched up three more and then photographed and listed them when the sunshine and electricity returned.



they're in the "red balloons for good" section of my shop, if you're interested....

also in shop news, i added a new section, which i'm calling "add-ons;" the idea being that these items can be added to an order with no additional shipping fees.
i added hoops:


i am a huge fan of these hoops that i've been using -- they're SO much better quality than the ones found at the usual craft stores, and i often get requests for additional hoop purchases from customers who've bought my kits and used them. well, now they're easily available through the shop! i put up a listing for the 3 and 4 inch hoops, and if that goes well, i'll probably add additional sizes.
i'm also thinking it's good to have the hoops in shop as an additional item option for the boyfriend hankie kits; it really is a heck of a lot easier to successfully do that project if you use a hoop. i don't include hoops in with the kit, though, because i figure that a lot of people have them already, or they can borrow them from a friend or a grandma who does -- and by not including them, i'm keeping the cost of the product down for my customers. well, now there's an easy way to add a hoop onto that item if a customer needs one. hooray!

also in the add-ons section, i'm putting together little bundles/packages/collections/selections of trim and notions. i've got A LOT of really pretty ribbon and trim and rickrack and vintage buttons and such and, even though i realize that i couldn't possibly use it all in my lifetime, i can't stop buying more when i come across it. SO -- i'm going through my collection and making nice little measured-out bundles and listing them in the shop. i put together and photographed two listings when my back-up camera died on me. (my regular camera has developed an annoying spot on the inside of the lens.)



that new add-ons section of my shop is here. check it out often to find more treasures!

on tuesday, i baked this pie:


peaches and blackberries soaked in bourbon and vanilla - yum, but i didn't cook it quite long enough... the bottom crust wasn't *quite* crisped enough. but what i DID do right was put the bourbon/vanilla/peach juice that was drained from the fruit before it went into the pie into a cocktail -- mmmhmmm delicious.

and lastly, today, i finished and framed this piece:



obviously, i'm going to need better photos. i'll be on the phone with canon tomorrow, hoping to get mine fixed through the warranty... ugh.
have a good long-weekend, everyone!

1 comment:

Megan Woodard Johnson said...

I loved this post! The selling off of bits and pieces and odds and ends is a brilliant idea...I can relate to the buying of more-more-more...it's so hard to walk past the perfect thing- especially when it's a vintage thing that you very likely wont see again if you don't grab it *now* for your stockpile! But then things can get a little too piled up in the studio too...so good solution! :)