It's finally complete!

I just wanted to post a quick blog about the completed Magnolia costume that I've been working on. It's finally done (except for my tag). I posted pictures of Lyssie in it on Flickr. She loves this costume so I might have to make more.

I really enjoyed making this costume. It reminded me of why I began doing all this in the first place. I hope to get back to making more fun costumes for the shop soon. I'm getting better at balancing my time between the kids and the business. With that said...

We are off to enjoy this nice sunny day at the park. The kids have a play date there so we'll be taking Muffin Tin Monday on the road. This means that I'll be posting pictures later tonight. In the meantime, you can always check out other Muffin Tins at Her Cup Overfloweth.

Read more...

A Sea of Tails

I'm closing in on my latest wholesale order. I don't sew in large quantities - it's very rare that I make two of something... so when I work on an order like this it always looks impressive to me. I currently have 22 crowns and 22 mermaid tails in various stages of production. Isn't it pretty?

I've been sewing so many recycled tshirts that I forgot how fun it is to sew these shiny, fancy costumes. I'm anxious to finish this order so I can start working on my inventory for the October show. I'm planning on making lots of costumes - and yes, I'll even be sewing more crowns and tails for the show.

And while it's fun to sew these costumes - I'm itching to sew something different. When I sew I get tons and tons of ideas. Normally, I'll stop what I'm doing to give the idea a try... but when I'm working on an order like this, I try to stay focused. My goal is to have this order done by this weekend. I'd love to mail it out on Saturday - Monday at the latest. That will leave me with two weeks to prepare for the EtsyRAIN show.

This is going to be a busy month!

Read more...

Personal Creative Challenge - May/June

Okay, so I've been looking at my stash of fabric and have decided that these beautiful fabrics need to get used. Of course, they are sitting them waiting for inspiration to hit me. Some of my fabrics sit there for a long time. Even if I know what I want to make out of them... it can take me months of figuring it out in my head before I even begin to make a pattern for it.

I also host periodic creative challenges for the local Etsy Street Team, EtsyRAIN (aka Puget Sound Indie Arts). So, I thought I should have my own little creative challenge each month. Since this one is starting in the middle of the month and I have some big shows to prepare for... I'm giving myself to the end of June. If I finish it before then, I'll just start a new one.

I'll post pictures of my creations here. Some pieces of fabric are quite large and might yield more than one item. I'll also be doing this along with the creative challenges I do for the group. This, the group one and my show should keep me plenty busy this summer... oh, and you can't forget all the fun the kids and I will be having!

So the first piece is this beautiful blue & green marbled velour type fabric (see photo). It's soft, but does have a nap (is that the right term), so it will have to be cut with that in mind. I have somewhere around three yards of this fabric (I think). It's also stretchy... so it will lend itself to many things. I'd love to hear ideas of what you picture this fabric becoming. I have a few of my own... but I'm not 100% sold on any of them. Maybe your idea will spark my imagination.

Stay tuned for pictures!

Read more...

A recap of Edmonds

So, I'm finally getting around to reviewing the Edmonds show last weekend. If you didn't make it, you missed a lot of fun! I had such a great time. I wish all craft fairs could be like this one.

We gave out 50 fabulous gift bags (notice the bag in the woman's hand in the photo - the bags were also handmade and reusable!) to the first 50 people through the door and they were gone by 11:00! We had a great mix of vendors... kids stuff, jewelry, paintings, prints, crocheted and knitted items, eco friendly items and sooo much more! We also gave away door prizes every hour/half hour. Each vendor donated a full priced item... and some people walked away with some pretty fabulous things!

I did really well to top it all off. I was happy that people were buying. I also love when my items are well received. I got lots of positive comments... and my most popular items were crowns, scrappy little monsters and the alphabet bean bags! All of which I will have at my next craft show.

Speaking of more craft shows... Puget Sound Indie Arts is talking about some more shows in the fall. So if you missed this one, you can catch one of our others. I'll keep you posted as we have more details

Read more...

Tutorial - Recycled Origami Boxes!

Growing up, I did a lot of origami. My grandmother taught me the crane and with those basic folds, I began teaching myself from books. Most of the books were in Japanese... and I don't read Japanese, so it was quite an undertaking. But I always had the basic things that I could easily teach someone else. This box is one of them ~ although I've added a little twist to make it more sturdy. I just recently made one of these because I needed a box to send one of my items in. Not having small boxed, I decided to make it myself. While I was making it, I thought it might be a fun tutorial for my blog! I've been wanting to do a tutorial, I just didn't know what.

Anyhow, I made mine from the comic page of the newspaper (because that's what was near me at the time), but you can use almost anything. I wouldn't go with any paper heavier than computer paper... although a paper grocery bag might work nicely - I'd imagine it to be a bit harder to fold, but the end result would be nice and rigid. You will have to experiment.

Materials you will need:

• 2 - 8 x 8 papers (need to be a perfect square)


• 4 - pieces of cardboard (thick cardboard like a shipping box) cut to 1.25 x 2.75"


• 2 - pieces of cardboard cut to 2.75" x 2.75" (optional)


• scotch tape (this is to make it easier when you are first learning... it can be omitted as you perfect the technique)

Step 1 - Fold one of your 8 x 8 squares in half (see picture 1). Be sure to crease all folds really well. Open it, turn the paper and fold it in half the other direction. Open it again and you should not have two folds crossing in the center of the paper.

Step 2 - Fold the paper again in half, this time diagonally (see picture 2). Open and repeat on the other side. Now when you open the paper you should have four creases crossing in the center. One vertical, one horizontal, and two diagonal (see picture 3).

Step 3 - With the paper open, fold one corner into the center of the paper (see picture 4), which is now marked with the crossing of the previous creases. Repeat this for all four corners (leaving them folded)

Step 4 - Fold one side of the paper (corners still folded into the center) to the center crease (See picture 5).

Step 5 - Open (it should look like picture 6). Repeat on all four sides (should look like picture 7).

Step 6 - Open all folds until it is back in it's original 8 x 8 shape. You should now have a grid of folds (see picture 8).

Step 7 - This is where I have modified it a bit. I taped (made a scotch tape loop on the back) four card board pieces into place. When you get good at the folding, you can just hold them in place rather than tape them. Be sure to place them in the rectangles that are toward the center of your grid (see picture 9).

Step 8 - Fold the corner over one of your cardboard pieces and then fold the piece so it is standing up (see picture 10).

Step 9 - Repeat step 8 on the opposite side while still holding the other side up (see picture 11).

Step 10 - All folds will be on creases that you have already made. Holding both sides up, fold the third side up. Tucking the sides of the fold into the cardboard piece and along the diagonal crease (see picture 12). This is the most difficult fold. While you are folding along the diagonal, you will have to re-crease this fold as you are folding it in the opposite direction. Hope that doesn't confuse you. (should look like picture 13).

Step 11 - Tuck the corner down into the center of the box (see picture 14).

Step 12 - Repeat step 10 & 11 on the opposite side (see picture 15). You now have the bottom (or top) of your box! You can tuck the 2.75 x 2.75 piece of cardboard in the bottom to keep the bottom folds down and to make it a little more rigid.

Step 13 - Repeat the whole process again with the second piece of 8 x 8. Eliminate step 7 and do not put card board pieces inside the wall of the box as this will make it too bulky and the top boxes will not fit inside each other. Notice in the picture to the right that the box in my hand is more flexible on the sides than the one on the right.

Step 14 - Put one box inside the other. In the last picture, I have shown you one box with the cardboard pieces on the top (the one on the left) and one box with the cardboard pieces on the bottom (the one on the right). The box I made in this tutorial has the cardboard pieces on the top (it's just how it fit together best. You can play with the size of your squares and make one slightly larger if you want a better fit.

Given that this is my first tutorial, I'd love to hear feedback. Is there a step that is confusing? Are you having trouble going from one step to another? Have I missed something in between? Are the photos helpful at all? I'd love to hear from you!

Happy recycling!

Read more...

A Royal Affair

It's been a few weeks now since we introduced our line of Royal Crowns. We have already sold two and I look forward to expanding our collection to offer an even greater variety. Last night I finished the newest one ~ The Devonshire, which is encircled with lots of bright color.

I'm looking forward to making a few others, notably a pink one for those girls that just can't get enough pink and even a few fleece tiaras... I am working on a new pattern for that as we speak.

These crowns are so much fun. My kids and their friends have a great time playing with the many prototypes that I've done. I still need to list my version for younger kids (no buttons)... although you can see it pictured in the image I've included on this blog.

We also used one of the crowns on my son for his birthday. It was the perfect extra touch to make him feel like a king!

Read more...