3,000 Squares, Oh My!

First off, I'd like to remind anyone that's interested, my magnet sets are marked down to $5 for all of December! They make a great stocking stuffer!

Now moving on... :)

I am officially insane. This has been confirmed by many of my close personal friends over the years, and again today by a few members of the Twitter community. I spent a good 5 hours of my day today cutting, cutting, cutting. 3,000 squares -- without a rotary cutter! I cherish my razor-edged titanium scissors my step-dad bought for me. Without them this wouldn't be possible and I'd have to go out and spend the $12 on a rotary cutter. I know, I should anyway.

I used up the last bits of many of my fabrics, and broke into a few I've been avoiding cutting. I'm weird like that with fabric. A lot of people have asked me if I will have quilts available in my shop. The answer is finally YES! I would've earlier, but I've loved them all so much that I kept them all for myself. I even have quilts set aside for babies I haven't even had yet. And babies I will never have, since I'm only enduring the madness of pregnancy once more. I've gifted quilts to lots of the new soon-to-come babies in my life, and now it's time for me to share with the Etsy community. So keep your eyes peeled, they're coming soon!

I blogged earlier about the Fashion Show at The Strutt. A few people have asked me how it went. Long story short - there's a reason I work alone. The girls I was working with on it are great people, so sweet! However, the details were fuzzy on tons of things and come last Tuesday I realized that in order to show a cohesive group of clothing, I was out. My stuff is wild and colorful. The group was pretty, but mild. Simple shapes, common colors, very mellow in comparison. So I backed out. I still set up a table at the show and hoped for the best.

Once I arrived I realized what a giant clusterfuck I was involved in. One group was the mild and mellow. The other collection being shown was out-there. Not my style of crazy, but gorgeous! Neither were handmade. These 2 collections mish-mashed together was NOT cohesive. If someone would've informed me of what the hell was going on (and believe me, I asked numerous times), I would've just found my own models, put my own clothes on them, and actually been in the show! I was also told that no one under 21 was allowed in the bar it was at. Then saw 15 year old models. I have a huge group of 13 year olds that would have absolutely LOVED to spend their Friday night modelling for my show. And every one of their tiny butts would've fit in the Ninja Pants I had already made. For a fleeting moment I thought of calling their moms and begging to borrow their children. It could have been done. If things were more organized and I had had some sort of clue what was happening, it really could've paid off big time. It's unfortunate things turned out the way they did.

Important Lesson Learned -- Don't say Yes so quickly. Get more info.

In the end, it was a riot though. We all had a good time, and I met some other amazing artists. I had fun and keep trying not to remind myself how much more fun it would've been had I had my things on a runway. I was just so excited for it. Won't do it again under the same circumstances.

I was all set for the Bizarre Bazaar on Sunday at my favorite bar, Bell's Brewery too. I was supposed to share a table with someone. I asked her how much space we had and was told "oh there's lots of room!" and spent Saturday night making new signage, organizing, and collecting all my show goodies that I haven't pulled out in a while. Got my car all loaded up, got my Mom to babysit, and I was on my way! Fast forward to Bell's. My "table" was more like a nightstand. 3'x4'.... seriously?! That's it? Really? For a 7 hour show you want me to put out 5% of my product? Uh no. Quick call to Mom to catch her before she zooms out of town and I'm out of that show too. Why do I bother? *sigh*

I did take something from all of this. I learned not to mix wine, tequila, and bloody marys if you don't want to have a horrendous Saturday morning. And I also decided to set back from the shows and get to work on my wholesale terms. I've had tons of people ask me for wholesale in the past, and I didn't have my terms together. So nows the time. I need to get more of my items into stores. That is my mission, so stay tuned, hopefully I have much success!

First Snow...

Trying not to have a negative morning, but man do I ever hate this state! Michigan is so beautiful in the summer. We get that beautiful summer because THIS is what we have to deal with for the rest of the year. Winter is here with a vengence. The plow trucks seem to not be out yet. The entire sole of my boot fell off today leaving me with a very cold, wet foot. I bought new boots yesterday, they better show up soon! Blah. I have nothing nice to say about today's weather. I'm only here to share this pic for those crazy snow lovers that follow this blog. I know who you are, and I know you only like it because you don't get snow where you live. Get your heads checked. I love you.

Tonight is my first fashion show! Or would have been anyway. The Fashion Show at The Strutt in downtown Kalamazoo! (Formerly known as Boogie's/Ali Baba's Hookah Lounge/10,000 other names.) Cocktail hour starts at 5! Show starts at 8! If you're in the area, you should come on down and see the show! I will not be in the show anymore, as my funky loud style doesn't mesh well with the other clothes being shown and in an effort to show a cohesive collection I backed out. I will still be there helping my ladies out with the show, and I will have a table set-up with all my goodies.

I'm feeling generous today, so I've marked down a lot of items for today only!* Slapdash Wallets, Itty Bitty Snap Pouches, and Patchworky Bibs are ONLY $10! Magnet sets are $5! They make great stocking stuffers, so get your booties down there, have a beer with me, and get some Christmas shopping done!!

If you can't make it tonight, I will be showing at the Bizzare Bazaar at Bell's Brewery on Sunday 2-9pm as well! I plan to keep the same crazy low prices throughout that show only, so come take advantage of my generosity and get a fantastic deal! I won't be offering this deal again!

I hope to see some of you tonight!

*Local sale only- sorry Etsy!

It Was a Soggy Saturday...

It's 2pm. Pantlegs soaked up to my knees. It felt like there was a cold, wet sponge in each of my boots. Oh the things I do for a dose of sunshine and a craft show! Gotta love the Michigan melty season. It sounded like it was raining all day. I love when the snow melts! I saw grass today! Grass!! Beautiful, green, soggy grass!

Eventually we made it downtown to the art show we wanted to see. We got there a little early, hopefully before everyone set up, since there wasn't much going on. We decided on a table 2 weeks from now and I can't wait! I haven't done a show in so long! The last shows I did I was selling clothes and Ninja Pants, and this time around I'm doing things a little different. My Slapdash Wallets and Clutches have been pretty popular locally, along with my coasters and Button Wallets. There's so many ideas in my head of all the things I want to make. I'm thinking Slapdash Messenger Bags, Spare Pockets, maybe even pillow covers. Or lampshades. So many ideas, so little time!


Soooo, after the craft show, we took our happy soggy selves to the Salvation Army. We pulled in and thought "wow, this place is hoppin for a Saturday afternoon." 15 satisfying shopping minutes later the trip took a turn. The loudspeaker lady announces that Saturday Night Madness has now begun. Let the thrift store craziness ensue! As the mad dash to the registers began I got into line with my 4 items. Right behind a lady with 3 carts. 3 CARTS! THREE!! Normally I'd have taken a second look at the items I was buying, deciding if I needed them. I had to wait, I had to have it. I found 2 giant wooden plates, I think they are called chargers? To go under plates or something. I never understood the concept really. But anyway... 2 big chargers to display my wallets on at shows = less than $8. Not the best deal, but they are in absolutely flawless condition and I just don't have the time to go hunting for something that would work better, because they were already perfect. I also found a shallow but pretty big, light-colored wooden basket to maybe display more wallets in, who knows? It was in good shape so I bought it. I also found a big yellow coffee mug that all but screamed "BUY ME!" for a mere 69 cents. Now, there's a tie for the best item found all day. I came across a double-snap purse frame for ONLY 99 cents! Knowing how obsessed I've been with my purse frames lately, that really made my day. BUT, then Erin my shoppin buddy found... of all things... a bluegrass record, the name I forgot now and I hate myself a little for it, and for not getting a pic... with all 4 guys in pretty pink ruffled tuxedos and cumberbunds and all. LMAO! It was too funny. We just had to buy it and hear it and then maybe send the pic off to the Greensky Bluegrass boys, since they'd probably get a kick out of it. Maybe they'd find some ruffly tux's for next NYE! I wish I had the pic!! I tried Googling it, but I'm guessing the Bluegrass Union High or whatever cheeseball name it had never made it to the World Wide Web. I love crazy record covers.

All in all, it was a really good day of shopping and finally walking somewhere instead of driving. Aside from the fact that my feet were sopping wet this entire time. Pruney little raisin toes for hours. Oh yeah, I also got 2 slices of Martini's pizza this afternoon too! MMM MMM MMMM! And my waitress recognized my purse from Etsy where she's shopped my site before, and come to find out we had more than a few mutual friends! It was a real cool small-world moment.

Last but certainly not least...

Happy Birthday Mommers!! I love you!