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Holyoke Canal District Winter Festival
10 years ago
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Free Shipping Sale!
This is just a quick post to announce that I am offering free shipping on everything in my shop from 1/11 - 1/25. Check it out!
Monday, January 5, 2009
New Year & New Furniture
It is 2009, and I am back from my little break! I hope that everyone had good holidays, mine were great and it was nice to have a little break from normal life. As promised, here is a picture of the girl's apron I made for a custom order.
I think it turned out nicely, and the customer seemed pleased with it. I don't have anything new to list in my shop yet though, because I ended up giving away the new bags I made as Christmas gifts. I will just have to get started on some more new stuff!
A big project I am taking on for the new year is redecorating my living room. I got married right after college, and when we moved into our apartment we didn't have much furniture at all. We found some nice used stuff for other rooms, but the living room ended up being a collection of not so great used stuff we got for free from relatives and really really cheap stuff from Target that is now falling apart after a few years of use. The bookshelves were the worst, and over the weekend we put up new ones from Ikea to replace them. The new bookshelves are awesome, and the next thing on the list is to replace the tv stand. The one we have now is ok looking, but not really designed to hold the weight of a tv, and I want to replace it with something that isn't going to eventully break under the weight. Here is a picture of the new bookshelves with the old tv stand.
And here are some things I am considering to replace it.
This one might be too big- I need to measure.
I would cut the flat screen pannel off this one.
Any opinions? I can't decide yet. I am also open to other options, but I want to get the new one in the next week or so. After that is done the other things on the list are to refinish the coffee table, get curtains, fix or get new couches, and get a couple more pieces of art to hang in there. I am really excited to see it improve through out the year!
I think it turned out nicely, and the customer seemed pleased with it. I don't have anything new to list in my shop yet though, because I ended up giving away the new bags I made as Christmas gifts. I will just have to get started on some more new stuff!
A big project I am taking on for the new year is redecorating my living room. I got married right after college, and when we moved into our apartment we didn't have much furniture at all. We found some nice used stuff for other rooms, but the living room ended up being a collection of not so great used stuff we got for free from relatives and really really cheap stuff from Target that is now falling apart after a few years of use. The bookshelves were the worst, and over the weekend we put up new ones from Ikea to replace them. The new bookshelves are awesome, and the next thing on the list is to replace the tv stand. The one we have now is ok looking, but not really designed to hold the weight of a tv, and I want to replace it with something that isn't going to eventully break under the weight. Here is a picture of the new bookshelves with the old tv stand.
And here are some things I am considering to replace it.
This one might be too big- I need to measure.
I would cut the flat screen pannel off this one.
Any opinions? I can't decide yet. I am also open to other options, but I want to get the new one in the next week or so. After that is done the other things on the list are to refinish the coffee table, get curtains, fix or get new couches, and get a couple more pieces of art to hang in there. I am really excited to see it improve through out the year!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Falling Behind
That is what it feels like I am doing this week. I have two special order Christmas presents that aren't finished yet (luckily they are for local people), I haven't gotten my new stuff up in my shop, and I have tons of personal Christmas related stuff that needs to get done, not to mention all my other regular work.
The good news is that this is the last week for my after school classes before Christmas, so after Thursday night I won't have to worry about any teaching related stuff until January 6! I have also decided not to worry about putting new things in my shop until after Christmas. It is really almost too late for to get things shipped to people in time anyway, and as much as I want to keep my shop active, I don't think I will lose out much taking some time away now. Blogging is the other thing I am going to take some time away from until I am caught up on everything. I am not sure exactly when I will post again here, definitely by New Year's, but hopefully sooner. When I am back I will have lots of pictures of finished Christmas gifts and new Etsy stuff to share!
Hope everyone has happy holidays, see you soon!
The good news is that this is the last week for my after school classes before Christmas, so after Thursday night I won't have to worry about any teaching related stuff until January 6! I have also decided not to worry about putting new things in my shop until after Christmas. It is really almost too late for to get things shipped to people in time anyway, and as much as I want to keep my shop active, I don't think I will lose out much taking some time away now. Blogging is the other thing I am going to take some time away from until I am caught up on everything. I am not sure exactly when I will post again here, definitely by New Year's, but hopefully sooner. When I am back I will have lots of pictures of finished Christmas gifts and new Etsy stuff to share!
Hope everyone has happy holidays, see you soon!
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Another Busy Week
This week is another pretty busy one for me, although I ended up taking Monday and Tuesday off from teaching because I had a really sore throat. I am feeling much better now, and am almost caught up from what I missed those days.
The new thing going on this week is that I am going to exhibit & sell some puppets in Holyoke, MA on Saturday to benefit Doctors Without Boarders. It sounds like a great event for a great cause, and you can find out more about it here http://www.yippeeskippy.com/gonzo/?page_id=469.
This weekend's craft fair in Otis was kind of a mixed bag . Not many people came, so we didn't sell too much, but my husband met a lot of really great artists and crafters there, and had a good time all around. One of the people he met was Janna of Capture Our Moments, and she took these pictures of some of the puppets for us!
The other new thing is that I finally have business cards! They were designed by the awesome Ironcladdesigns who also designed my banner. I think he did a great job I am very glad to have something so nice to hand out to people.
I also have the two new ribbon bags just about ready to list in my shop! I hope to get that done on Saturday, as well as start on a couple special orders that I need to get done before Christmas. I will post again on Saturday with pictures of the bags and maybe the special orders in progress!
The new thing going on this week is that I am going to exhibit & sell some puppets in Holyoke, MA on Saturday to benefit Doctors Without Boarders. It sounds like a great event for a great cause, and you can find out more about it here http://www.yippeeskippy.com/gonzo/?page_id=469.
This weekend's craft fair in Otis was kind of a mixed bag . Not many people came, so we didn't sell too much, but my husband met a lot of really great artists and crafters there, and had a good time all around. One of the people he met was Janna of Capture Our Moments, and she took these pictures of some of the puppets for us!
The other new thing is that I finally have business cards! They were designed by the awesome Ironcladdesigns who also designed my banner. I think he did a great job I am very glad to have something so nice to hand out to people.
I also have the two new ribbon bags just about ready to list in my shop! I hope to get that done on Saturday, as well as start on a couple special orders that I need to get done before Christmas. I will post again on Saturday with pictures of the bags and maybe the special orders in progress!
Friday, December 5, 2008
Yay Sales!
This week I am celebrating my first real sales in my etsy shop! I had a great trade with another seller, Lucy's Postcard Quilts, last week, and this week I have sold two of my aprons. It is really nice to not be waiting for my first sale anymore, and feels like the shop is real now. Huzzah!
Last night's craft fair went pretty well too. I wasn't sure about it since it was an evening weeknight event, but the turn out was good and a handful of puppets went home with happy kids. I am really excited about the fair in Otis on Saturday, though. Everything for sale from the snacks to crafts is going to be handmade, and there is supposed to even be some live music! I am a little bummed that I can't be there myself. I will be at a baby shower (which will also be a lot of fun), but my husband will be there running our booth. If you are in the area you should drop by and check it out!
Have a Happy Weekend!
Last night's craft fair went pretty well too. I wasn't sure about it since it was an evening weeknight event, but the turn out was good and a handful of puppets went home with happy kids. I am really excited about the fair in Otis on Saturday, though. Everything for sale from the snacks to crafts is going to be handmade, and there is supposed to even be some live music! I am a little bummed that I can't be there myself. I will be at a baby shower (which will also be a lot of fun), but my husband will be there running our booth. If you are in the area you should drop by and check it out!
Have a Happy Weekend!
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Pile of Puppets
I thought I would share some pictures of the hand puppets I am making for this week's craft fairs, especially since they are what is taking up most of my time this week. Here they all are lined up next to my sewing machine.
I stayed up really late last night and got all of the bodies sewn, except for a couple orange ones on the end there. After that comes stuffing and attaching eyes and ears and such, which is really the fun part. I think this is a new record for the most puppets I have ever made at a time (31 in all), and I am excited about getting a picture of them all set up together when they are finished. For now though, I have scraps of fleece all over the place.
I stayed up really late last night and got all of the bodies sewn, except for a couple orange ones on the end there. After that comes stuffing and attaching eyes and ears and such, which is really the fun part. I think this is a new record for the most puppets I have ever made at a time (31 in all), and I am excited about getting a picture of them all set up together when they are finished. For now though, I have scraps of fleece all over the place.
Monday, December 1, 2008
Bags + Busy, Busy
Ooops! It has been a while since I updated. A big part of the reason it has been so long since my last post is that I have been really busy with lots of exciting things lately. So here is the quick run down of whats new.
I have starting teaching puppetry classes in after-school programs at two local schools. One is a high school, and the other is an elementary school. It is lot of fun to see the students learn and enjoy themselves, and it is also interesting to see how the different age groups work with some of the same materials.
I have been doing lots of craft fairs lately, and they have been going pretty well. The only downside to that is all the new stuff I have made has gone to the fairs and I haven't been able to add anything new to my etsy shop in awhile. The upsides are that I don't have to spend as much time on marketing when I sell at fairs, and I really like meeting the customers face to face and seeing them enjoy my work. I have two, count them, two fairs coming up this week. Here are the details, please stop by if you happen to be in the area.
Indian Orchard School
95 Milton St.
Indian Orchard, MA 01151
12/4 6pm-8pm
Farmington River School
555 N Main Rd
Otis, MA 01253
12/6 10am-4pm
Blues and greens:
And reds and browns:
And reds and browns:
I like the way they are coming along so far, and if they don't go at the craft fairs you can probably see them in my shop next week. I should get back to sewing, so that is all for now, but I will try and update again later this week.
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