Bright & early this morning, renee from wolfie & the sneak spotted one of my fabrics on the main etsy treasury. I happened to be on-line (when am I not) when her email dropped in, and I was lucky enough to click over there in time and see it with my very own eyes! Blimey!!
Bottom right corner - that's Lulu! She's a very popular fabric these days! You can see her at my etsy shop or on my main website.
Thank you to Heli S for including my work in her well-curated group!
Sometimes the double-layered v-necks just don't lay right on me. They "gap out" at the vee, leaving a little too much skin showing. I fixed this one in about 2 minutes flat.
With monafilament thread, I first stitched the 2 layers to one another. Then I added a round, metal filagree to the vee so it's not so apparent that it was "fixed." Pretty, yes?
Buh-bye gap! We're keeping things under wrap here!
If you start an Indie Goodness Giveaway on your other blog Scoutie Girl, you'll have to add an item of your own - so you'll have to open Illustrator to prep your image.
When you try to save your image, you'll realize you didn't save all the other giveaway images in your regular picture files - so you'll have to open Dreamweaver to see where the others are saved.
Once your image is prepped and saved, you'll have to open typepad to insert your image.
When you insert your image, you'll realize you need to know the value of your item - so you'll have to open Excel to do your product costing.
You'll want to know your product costing down to the penny, so you'll have to find out the price of your raw materials - so you'll have to open QuickBooks.
When you start looking at your business finances, you'll start thinking of ways to drive some traffic to your website. And chances are, if you start brainstorming things you can do, you'll want to start in Indie Goodness Giveaway on your other blog Scoutie Girl. It's all true.
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Enter the Indie Goodness Giveaway now - a lovely package of handmade goods worth $547!!!
Ends Wednesday, May 14th.
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***written in the spirit of Laura Numeroff books "If you give a mouse..."
I don't know if I like the grommets better or the little circles that pop out of each one. Aren't they adorable? Saved those buggers!
See that little broken, brambly wooden stick on the bottom of each pic? That's my prized point turner. My mom gave it to me a few years ago when she was purging some sewing supplies, and I've grown quite attached to it. It's an unassuming overachiever - no other point turner has worked better for me. Anyway, it cracked in half when I walked on it one time (what? don't you keep yours on the floor?!), and then it's been broken another time or two. Now there's not enough of a grip left to hold onto it. And along came this whittler...
I found 2 chunky sticks on our hike this morning, showed him the point turner and he went to town! Not a bad job at all! I will have to sand them a little bit, but otherwise they're perfect!
{image courtesy zapp196, flickr}
I've seen so many pretty & interesting inspiration boards posted on various blogs recently (poppytalk and modish are great places to see some of these), and they've 'inspired' me to examine my own inspiration board. It's filled with lots 'o notes and cards from Matt, my sister and the Peanut Man, in addition to pics, colors, shapes and patterns that lift me up. The note that I always have in my periphery as I sew is the one I like the most, and thought you might get something out of it, too!
Background: Back in 2004 (seems like much longer than that!), I was a partner in a painting business called Fresh Paint LLC. I'm sure you've heard me reference it previously. We were asked to be part of a Designers' Showcase, which was a fundraiser for a women's shelter. It was one of the most challenging and labor-intensive things I've ever done. I was so stressed out, couldn't eat, had no time to do regular things. When it came time for opening night, Matt gave me a card with this note inside about what an inspiration Fresh Paint was to him and Peanut Man - and the lessons they took away from this experience just by watching it all unfold. Without further adieu...
1. Make time, don't kill time.
2. TALENT may start it, but ATTITUDE will finish it.
3. Why 'push the envelope'...when you can shove it the hell through!
4. A war for integrity lost is always better than a battle for pennies won.
5. Never be ashamed of a creative idea.
Bonus: Never agree to paint a house that has no working bathrooms. {long story for another day}
{handpainted powder room & floorcloth from Designers' Showcase 2004 - my sister liked it so much, I replicated it in her powder room!}
If you use a lot of zippers in your sewing, a looooong length of zipper tape can be your best friend - both where your sanity and your pocketbook are concerned. Plus, there's barely any waste at all b/c you only use exactly what you need in each application. [Less waste = many smiley faces]
The sanity part comes into play b/c, in most instances, you would NOT have to add your pull until you have the zipper installed and topstitched - thereby having one less obstacle to fight with. Even with a zipper foot, the pull can be a pisser to maneuver around. Without the pull, I have gotten away without changing my presser foot - depending upon the width of fabric adjacent to the teeth (usually wider on tape than on fixed lengths).
Most of my customers have told me they want a zipper so I have learned to incorporate them without grumbling. Changing thread and feet is par for the course. As Peanut Man says, "Deal with it, gal." Last night while watching a few shows and enjoying an adult beverage, I loaded 50 pulls onto this length of tape b/c I'm trying out a new installation method. These nickel pulls where only 5 cents more than the standard type - aren't they great? I never bothered to ask b/c I assumed they were $1 more or something. Duh. Anyway, I will photograph the steps so I can post a tute here for you.
What kind of work do you save for evening TV?
Calling all indie designers and artists...
If you're interested in participating in a Giveaway on Scoutie Girl, please see this post for more information.
Hope to hear from you!
myohmyohmyohmy, the menfolk in the house ventured to the interior of the grocery store...and this is what they returned with. It was soooo good for about the first 5 little bites, then the sweet-sweet-sweetness took over. That will last me until this summer's trip to the boardwalk fer shur.
*bonne maman caramel spread image courtesy of mikamika's flickr photo stream
*ice cream courtesy of breyer's
*Miss Vickie's courtesy of Frito-Lay
The very kind folks at Spoonflower featured Daisy Janie in a post today. Kim asked specifically about my design process, so I gave some of the details about how they come into being. Her write-up was very sweet - being thought of in the same vein as Marimekko is beyond cool! Thank you, Kim!
I used to (and sometimes still do) paint [see here and here], and my fabrics are strikingly similar to my painting style - which is where the first inkling of style & inspiration come from.
Where do you draw your inspiration from?
These babies are slowly but surely getting finished. These are my samples (there are more where these came from). I am head-over-heels with the pillow design I devised. Don't you love the zipper? What's that you say, you don't see a zipper? Ah, now you're catching on! You're not supposed to silly - that's what makes it so fabu. And the teatowels....LOVE them. Turned out yummier than I imagined. Things are going a-okay here (for a change!!).
What you also can't see (behind me) are the piles and piles of cut purse pieces for this week's fiesta of sewing. I promised myself I would make handbags I personally liked alot (so I could brag wildly about them when I got stopped on the street) and that didn't have a too many parts - to ease the construction burden. Alas, alack, I couldn't help myself. They are definitely bags I will carry with a zip in my step and a grin ear-to-ear, but the parts and construction steps are not lacking in number! Oh well. They'll be better than anything I've done before and that's a real motivator right now!
Had the privilege of reading and writing a review for the book pictured here, Green Chic - Saving the Earth in Style. I posted it on my other blog, Scoutie Girl, in case you haven't ventured over there. I'll be featuring earth-friendly goods over there all week in recognition of Earth Day today.
Today was a glorious day! Fun to get a taste of summer in the middle of April, tho we are in need of some April showers. Lots of pretty things are in bloom in our yard - makes so happy to see these beautiful colors.
Azaleas that anchor the steps coming off our front porch.
Forsythia that borders the west side of the porch. They were just teensy buds on March 17th.
Man oh man, I cannot remember the name of this tree! I'll have to see if I saved its info tag from last year. 2 of these anchor each of the corners of the porch - they're about the 4th plant I've tried there. The scale and color contrast should work this time!
Periwinkle that's here and there. The former owner of our house had kind of English garden thing going. It was pretty, but it was soooo overgrown. The whole frontyard was periwinkle with a slate path. My sister helped me rip it all out when we moved in 5 years ago. We planted grass and reused the slate to make a backyard patio. Much better to have grass when kids are running wild in the neighborhood!
I'll be taking many more up-close images as summer progresses. I want to do more drawing and nature studies from my own images. I'll also be able to use these in some future fabric designs, too. I wonder when I see all the botanical silhouettes that are so popular right now, if they're handdrawn or taken from personal photos or just stock photos? What do you think? I know there are a lot of free brushes for Illustrator out there, too. I wonder how many are using these or are creating their own from scratch. I personally think stock photos and free brushes are akin to cheating, but that's just me. Do you have an opinion? I would love to hear it!
Peanut Man had an inservice day today, and I happily, cheerfully, gladly took the day off from my professional, dress-up gig. My officemate asked me earlier this week if I thought about all the "fun" they had in the afternoons after I left (I work til 12:30) - I said, "Not even for a second." They are fabulous co-workers, but my head is just not there when I'm not there.
Back to the field trip ~ I went against my non-pre-pre-pre-planning ways this week: checked the weather 3 days ago, thought of a great idea, invited 2 of PM's friends, wrote down directions, found the binoculars - I felt so organized (I even got out of the house on time this morning - do I get a medal or a monument for that?!). The weather didn't disappoint either at 80 degrees and full sun! We trekked to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. It's a mountaintop ridge with trail systems and lookouts, where the migratory patterns of raptors are tracked (falcons, eagles, hawks, et al). Here's their mission statement:
The Hawk Mountain's mission is to conserve birds of prey worldwide by providing leadership in raptor conservation science and education, and by maintaining Hawk Mountain Sanctuary as a model observation, research and education facility.
The trail to the farthest lookout point is well-traveled and easy to get to (little rocky b/c it is PA after all). And the boulder fields at the lookout are perfect for perching with your binocs and seeing what there is to see. Sooo scenic as you scan the vista of the Blue Mountains.
To the right of the lookout is another trail system you might have heard of, something called the Appalachian Trail. We've hiked and trail run this section many times, and it takes my breath away everytime. It's tiny compared to other mountains in the US, but we'll take it. We're lucky to have such beautiful, natural places being conserved!
These 4 totebags are now in my etsy shop, $45 each.
It's been on my to-do list now for awhile {and dum-da-da-dum}....The Big Spring Purge has begun!! I will be adding more handbags to my etsy shop each day - transferring what's left on my regular Daisy Janie website to the etsy shop as well as items I haven't had listed anywhere for 2 years. All are discontinued handbags that I am anxious to sell-off to make room for new items in my new fab fabrics! Some of these relocated handbags are pristine, some are shop-worn from being toted to shows, some have minor flaws - all will be duly noted. Prices will reflect status.
I've also added a few more supplies to my etsy shop, and fabric scraps are on the way, too! Lotsa good stuff!
Happy Thursday! I am bouncing off the walls today - sun is out, supposed to be 75 degrees this afternoon - yeeeeehaaaa!
I know there are lots of caring, savvy moms out there reading this blog. Some of you comment, some of don't - which is fine. I do that, too. But I hope you'll speak up if you can shed some light on the situation I'm about to present and what you would have done.
Earlier this week, Peanut Man and a good friend were at a playground (Matt was nearby). They were checking out some paths in a small patch of trees, grabbing branches to pretend with and just general putzing around. Good, clean fun. Another boy from their class was there and joined in whatever they were doing. Everything seemed fine by all outward appearances. Remember, Matt was nearby, but he wasn't within earshot. So, later that evening, I tell Peanut Man to get ready for bed and I would be up to tuck him in. When I come around the corner to go up the steps, he's sitting there, chin starting to quiver, eyes getting red - and he's doing everything a 10-year-old mini-man can do not to cry. He's completely rattled. When we get upstairs, I ask him what's up. He said that when they were at the playground, this 3rd boy told him and his buddy that he was chased through the woods at that playground by a member of a certain hooded group who had a knife (I will not mention the actual name of the group - 3 letters in a row that come after J). But my son said the full name (not just initials) b/c this other boy had said it to him. So now it's out there - I have to acknowledge it and explain it without heightening the drama b/c clearly his imagination has already gotten the best of him. And you know how you have that split-second thought before you say a word - and you almost let it slip - well my thought was, "Why in the world does any 10-year-old kid know about this kind of stuff and how would they know enough to scare the bejeebers out of another kid?" (There were more trucker-mouth words in the version in my head - I'll keep it clean for blogland.) Seriously. Why and how? What is going on in this other kid's world that he knows about this - whether he's hearing it on TV or out of another person's mouth. Either way seems unsettling to me.
So here's where I am. I know Peanut Man doesn't live in a bubble, and he's certainly had some heavy subjects explained to him already - like what's going on in Iraq, 9/11, WWII, slavery (we were just at the Civil War Museum).....all of these things are essentially as heavy and vile, even moreso. Is it just me that this rubbed me the wrong way? How would you have explained it? I pretty much told him that there are indeed groups of people that don't like other groups of people, and sometimes their anger prevents them being rational and compels them to hurt other people. Sad but true. I stretched the teachable moment a bit further and said all the things I could along the lines of: never judge a book by its cover, be a good person even when nobody's looking and (from a dear friend's father) "always wear the white hat ." I don't regret that he now knows, but clearly he wasn't mature enough to put it all together. I would love to hear any of your experiences or what you think you would have said.
The worst part was that I assured him this 'type of thing' didn't go on around here, only to read a letter to the editor the next morning in the paper that said a nearby town is a hotbed for this sort of sentiment. What?! Total double take. Maybe it's ME that lives in a bubble....
Ha! Do you know what they're reeeeally doing? These 2 innocent-looking goobers (Scout and George, formally*) are actually very busy shedding - with every. fiber. of. their. being. To make sure no surface goes unhaired. And as one of the vacuumers around here, I can vouch for what a spectacular job they're doing! I filled up an entire vacuum bag in one go-around yesterday! Ack!!
They have been banned from the sewing room. Especially that fella on the bottom - his hair loss exceeds all measures of anything remotely normal (as does his personality). What they lack in hair retention they make up for in sweetness, loyalty, companionship, silliness, cuteness and goodness - so we'll keep them around!
*Informally, they are known as MANY other things. Current fave for Scout is La Diabla, and for George, (he'd rather I didn't say).
Found these scrumptious fruit and granola bars online and thought you might like to know about them! I googled "natural fruit bars," and Kettle Valley came up 1st on the list. They had a super selection of 100% fruit bars - no artificial flavors or preservatives, no added sugar. They all looked and sounded so good - I was a little overwhelmed trying to decide which bar in which flavor! I clicked through to one of their suggested online retailers, everydayfruit.com and found sample packages!! Yay. I ordered the large sample package (21 items for $25.59). Their website also offers natural bars from other companies, and I picked some trail mix bars from HoneyBar that are fantastic!!! Nuts, raisins and honey. Period. 24 bars for $32.95. The HoneyBar website has many, many other yummy, natural bars, with online retailers listed.
We're always on the lookout for the most natural ingredients in our foods, minimizing processed, pre-fab, chemical-laden foods by default. Stick to the perimeter of the grocery store for the least processed foods....if you're in the middle, you're doomed. It really doesn't take much longer to prep a meal from scratch than from a box - try it!
Peanut Man loves to draw as much as he loves to jump, read and build Legos. His teacher this year lets her students read or draw when they have free time in class. At first, I was a little put off by the idea of kids' drawing over reading, but I think that was my own hang-up b/c that's "the way we did it." I don't know about other people's kids, who might spend too much time in front of the TV and their only reading time is in school. But that doesn't apply to Peanut Man - this guy enjoys reading (one of his Grandmas is a librarian) - he will blow through an entire series in a weekend if allowed.
So, when I weighed the argument for drawing vs. reading, I thought it was great that he got a devoted amount of time at school to draw or doodle whatever he felt like. No art teacher telling him what to do, no homeroom teacher telling him to make a project related to science, no mother telling him to make a birthday card for his cousin....just HIM drawing whatever HE likes. Some of his classmates have started a drawing club where they pick different subject matter and devote entire pages to futuristic monsters or fantastical dragons and make up storylines that bring it all together.
When I saw some of the productions, I immediately went out and bought him a sketch book - not only so there wouldn't be so many pages floating around but also to give him the feel of journaling and a collection of something to look back on when he's older. I've never filled up a sketchbook, but I imagine it's exhilarating. I should do that! In this pic, he's keeping me company as I blog to all of you!!! Yay!
If I didn't already have a name for my Scoutie Girl blog, I would call it "things that make my day" - b/c everything I blog about is truly something that lifts me up and makes me smile. This blogger made *my" day when she featured my fabrics in a post. She also bought some of my Lulu fabric - thank you Amy! Can't wait to see what you make with it.
When blogging on Scoutie Girl, some days I think, "There's just too much awesomeniferousness out there - how will I share it all, or think of new ways to describe being bowled over or stopped in my tracks or jaw-dropped?!" I originally started SG to cross-promote Daisy Janie, which it does. But it's become so much more for me as well as the artists/designers I feature (my husband enjoys grabbing ideas from SG for my birthday, too!) Glad it can be such a positive vehicle for so many!
I'm still in soft launch mode with the designs b/c I don't have products done yet, but my taxes are done, a couple custom projects are done, my office is organized and my zippers are fiiiiiinally on their way (the new silver pulls are sooooo great - now I have to do a couple handbags with zippers!). So, I should be back on track to get back on track to get back on track - know what I mean??
Happy almost weekend! Any big plans out there? Bunco, soccer game and Matt's 38th bday...should keep me busy.
Remember the purple "e" fabric? Well, here's what a 26" x 26" square of custom fabric will get you: 1 uptown handbag, 1 roxy wristlet, 1 zoey mirror/pouch, 1 headband, 3 key fobs and 4 extra fabric-covered mirrors. How about that?!
My client is jumping for joy - she said her son has never been so excited to give his sister a gift! Yay!! Glad I could be a part of making people happy - good karma!
Email me at jan[at]daisyjanie[dot]com if I can help you with a custom fabric design or printing project.
17 hair products! 17. And every single one dashed my hopes of having lustrous, bouncy, natural curls. Not all at once; these were purchased over a period of about 3 years. But, ever the optimist, I bought each one, thinking it would bring me the curls of my dreams. If you have curly hair, you know the constant battle with frizz! And you could probably match these descriptors to each product with your eyes closed: too gooey, too crunchy, too greasy, too sticky, too much hold, not enough hold, too drying, too ____________ (I'm sure there are others I'm missing). I've tried each one more than once in different weather conditions to make sure my assessments were correct, and that's why they're still here - I thought maybe I'd try them again. But it's not to be - today's the day we part ways. Bye-bye hair products. I had big plans for us, but you're not holding up your end of the bargain so I'll have to move-on without you....all the best...........
Didn't leave myself much elbow room for blogging this week - it'll be sparse. Pesky taxes [insert swear words here] and equally pesky dayjob [grumblings here] plus volunteering at Peanut Man's school this week [cheering here]. They're doing a fun silhouette project at school, and I think I'll be tracing all afternoon!
I didn't think blogging had become much of a habit yet, but I miss it when I know I can't get to it! I've met so many wonderful lady-crafters/artists, and it's so cool to check in with all of you here and on your blogs. Thanks for being so inspirational and generous with your thoughts! I appreciate your candor and company more than you know!
I added a make | take | bake list in the right margin. The tree wallpapers that are there now make me verrrrry happy. Try one out - they look so pretty as a desktop background. (I've been taking more sky pics than I care to admit lately. I'm bound to miss what's right in front of me if I'm looking up all the time!) I'll be adding some other things in that list soon enough.
Happy Tuesday. (boring, no April Fool's here!)
I've been working on this very cute project for about 2 weeks now. The client contacted me to print a custom fabric for her, which I will then sew into some Daisy Janie items for her: an uptown handbag, a headband, a roxy wristlet, a couple zoey pouches and maybe a key fob or 2.
The initial concept was done by her son and is a gift from him to his sister in celebration of her Bat Mitzvah. You might recognize the "signature style" upon which it's loosely based. (Considering it's not an exact duplicate, the colors are completely different and it's not for re-sale, I thought it was safe to go ahead with it.)
I tightened and cleaned the client's design, set-up the repeat, colormatched the purple shades - and off to the printer! The bottom image is the strike-off (pardon the yellow cast from my camera!!). It looks splendid in person - the client loves it. So it's a go. Yay!
She said her daughter will be over the moon with her brother's gift! I think it's awesome not only that he wanted to do this for his sister but also that his mom encouraged him to 'go for it'! (Did I mention he's 14? What a brother!)
If you' re interested in custom fabric design and / or printing, please get in touch.
jan [at] daisyjanie [dot] com.
