Yes, I name my crafts

When I am creating a robot or a star or a skunk, even in an assembly line they have their own personality, their own life. The fabrics may seem random, but I feel each piece tells me which ones they want, like a child dressing themselves. I use a pattern I made from paper grocery bags, but the tracing and seam allowance takes on it's own path as well, its as if it were a loose interpretation of the pattern.

Once I get them dressed, it's all about the face. Sewing on the eyes particularly really adds that breath of life, and it is my favorite step. I always freehand the eyes and only cut them one set at a time. This is a slow step, it only takes a sec to sew them on, but this is where I take a moment to appreciate each one like a little newborn I'm going to send out to a loving family. I know, Cheeze Louise, but I'm extra sappy when I'm pregnant.

So the names, where do they come from?

With the Robots, I initially had 60 of them, so as I took pictures of them I stuck little dot tags on them A-Z, AA-whatever, and then named the photos accordingly. I have a book of Sci Fi Baby Names that I recieved from my sister in law when I was pregnant with my first, and I just picked them out alphabetically. They all came from movies or books or tv series, and had a description of the character. I tried to choose ones that fit. Some were boys, some were girls, some were ambiguous and recieved names accordingly. The ones that got into the double letters got double names, with a hyphen, and that gave me a little creative license to mix and match. My favorite was Olivia-Wan.

So then were the stars, and those I chose just by the way they looked, mostly their lips, or the way they held their "arms" or their eye shape. Their faces made it easy. They were like naming your stuffed animals as a kid.

The Skunks took a more interesting and personal twist. Yes, these are the Skunks for Skyla. They are all Albino Skunks in reference of the Albino Skunk Bluegrass Festival, http://www.skunkfest.com/ , and are made for the ASBF founders' grandaughter and Olympic hopeful Skyla Powers http://skylasjourney.blogspot.com/ (competing in Poland this week!) I donate a portion from each skunk directly to her.

The Skunks are all made from canvas, so I named them for their distinctive stripes. I used the same three giant storage boxes of scrap fabrics and goodwill clothes (ALL WASHED!!!) that I used for the pieces of the robots. But each piece of fabric has a unique history of its aquisition. There are the plaids from flannel shirts I used to make myself a modern grunge skirt for my bands cd release party last year. Those fabrics gave birth to Kurt and Eddie. Yeah. They do smell a little like Teen Spirit. (Which is great for a Skunk)

There are the fabrics I recieved from my mother in law, Some hers, Some quilting fabric from her mother. They birthed the two lovely skunks Judy and Blanche, respectively.

There is Wilmington, from a fabric I bought to make pillows when I first graduated college and moved to the beach, I thought it looked sandy. So you see the trend.

Well, above I included a few pics, see if you can guess the skunk with the fabric described. I tried to get some of the robots with their nametag visible for your enjoyment as well.

Thanks for indulging me with the read, naming my crafts really gives you that extra ingredient, listed in my shop item materials as "love." (Yeah yeah, Sap)

Feel free to click to the right on my etsy store to go spy on the items listed, and look at their names, (no purchase necessary, you can peek away, I'll never know it was you!) Feel free to post a comment here or convo me on etsy if you want to know the history behind any of the specific names. Now, if I can only choose a name for this baby that is going to come out of me in 8 weeks, I'll really have something to blog about!

It's a big world out there.

Today is of reflection. I blog. I like it. I twitter. pretty fun. I facebook. crack. I have started doing more and more to create an online presence, getting lost in techy stuff like adding applications, social stuff like starting groups and posting in threads. I really cannot imagine that anyone could spend more time online without suffering from video-game-obsession style exhaustion.

Yet, the more I do, the more discussions I am involved in, and blogs I link to, the more I am beginning to see it very clearly. I am a tiny, tiny boat lost in a ginormous sea of expert bloggers and expert crafters, some of which "just started and don't know what they are doing" but have hundreds of followers, hundreds of sales and more apps than I even understand. Um. before I was a SAHM I was in IT, yet now I feel like the internet is set to make me feel like a third grader in college.

Don't get me wrong, I am not upset by any of this. I just wonder, what am I doing? I unplugged for many hours today, I cleaned the house, I spent a few hours at a playgroup with my kid, and we just frigging relaxed. I refuse to let myself stop having fun with all of this, but if I don't feel so "Rah Rah" I am totally allowed to take a break. A jaded crafter is not a crafter at all!

I actually took a few pics today in the windowsill, a technique I have wanted to try. I didn't get that far because I caught up with an old friend on the phone. I didn't download the camera, so no new pics. And you know what? I can't wait to do it tomorrow! My motto is to just plug away, but only if you want to do it. I'm not throwing in the towel, or saying I won't stick to any discipline or deadlines, but when I am spending more time "trying so hard" than I am just loving the whole idea of what I do, I think it is just as important to pull away for some perspective. And you know what? Huh, I got three new followers today.

I think it's a good time to work some Feng Shui magic on my environment to zone in on where I am in my head and achieve a little zen. That's a crafty thing to do.

And I am actually a little bit proud of myself for taming the OCD beast and letting myself enjoy the day a bit. So, off I ride into the sunset of sleep with the satisfaction that I still really, really love what I do and will keep on doing it.

It's Curtains for the Polyfil!

Today I hit Hancock Fabric for their big sale, still needing that elusive giant box of polyfil that they told me two days ago was just coming off the truck. Nope. And I cannot get the sale price on out of stocks. That's ok, because Joanne's Fabric is opening in a few days across the parking lot with their Grand Opening Sale. (this magical place is five minutes down the road from my house!) Since I was already at the fabric store...why not take advantage of the sale?


I bought an off white home decorator fabric with a cool blues botanical print to make curtains for my son's room, I have been working on decorating it since our move. With the new baby on the way, I am trying to really pimp out the nursery because I never did with Lincoln's arrival. We didn't even have a crib until he was three months old!


Of course, I wanted to get some kind of liner to block the light, and even thought the print is cool blues and greens, It is sort of a floral, so I saw exactly what I was looking for at 99c a yard! Burlap! It is dark, and masculine, but perforated enough to let some light through. It seems like it will look good in my head, but we will see when I get it done. Of course, I've never made curtains and have no plan or pattern, I'm just going to wing it. How hard can it be?


I'll post pics once I get them done, but above is a photo of the room right now, after I put up a big tree decal I got on etsy at http://www.bubbaanddoodle.etsy.com/


Happy Labor Day everyone!!!! Anyone else pick up any new projects from the holiday sales or get any new inspirations?

Finished top! Please vote in comments! :)

I just finished making my maternity top. It is the first article of clothing I have ever sewn from scratch without a pattern (other than altering something). I may have a few years of practice needed before I can audition for Project Runway, but it came out way better than I thought!

Please add to comments and vote: Can I wear this out in public?

Feeling pretty!

This is my new outfit today (on a model from the website!) Hot stuff, eh?

Well, I am almost done with my fancy schmancy maternity top, it's looking pretty good, although a little pale in comparison with my new maternity shopping spree gooodies! I'm using two very difficult fabrics to put together, a stretch jersey and a slippery silky poly something. I have been feeling very zen with my sewing machine lately.

I couldn't get my book club book at the library yesterday (Time Traveler's Wife) so I went to barnes and Noble. Partly because I didn't want to wait on the list, and partly because I needed a reason to wear some of my new clothes! (guilty as charged!)

I have been pretty maxed out in the brain with everything I am doing to promore my shop, so I have lightnend up a bit. Haven't slowed down, just finding the fun in it, more convos and I seem to be getting a ton of new twitter followers all of a sudden.

Google analytics said I got a lot of hits from My Craft Corner, so I started a group on the site for kid's items. If you make kid's stuff, please come join! It's just another networking site for crafters, everyone mostly talks about etsy and they have contests and a bunch of nice people giving good advice.

Here's the linky dink...http://www.mycraftcorner.com/group/kidstuff

Anyhoo, Happy 10th Birthday Blogger!

No Polyfil in sight

My awesome husband will be gone for a week, so today on his day off, he said he'd watch the kid all day while I ventured out and floated around the library and shopped at some craft stores. I have been out of polyfil and really need some to finish my skunks. I leisurely visited the library, awesome, then went to Joanne Fabric, they open Sep 11, so I went to Hancock, they are out of the big box of Polyfil, I'll have to check later in the week.

I looked at my pathetic self, wearing ill fitting workout gear that is at least comfortable in the heat, since all my materninty clothes are Fall/Winter. I was sweaty, and I felt dumpy frumpy. I went to the nearby TJmaxx, no maternity, Stein Mart, same. My car drove back to where I started, the library adjacent mall. Of course they had a motherhood maternity, yay!

I only needed a pair of shorts that were cute enough to wear outside of the house, and a few cute tops that covered my belly and backside. Maybe some pants that did the same. I left there with an entire wardrobe, down to the bra. I put back my debit card and pulled out the credit card.

Absolutely no remorse whatsover. I haven't felt this cute in months! :) (this picture is from back then, I have progressed quite a bit!) Lesson: even in today's economy, sometimes it is OK to splurge on necessities!

Can I say I am too tired to even stay up for Project Runway? I think a bowl of ice cream might awaken me enough, it is on the DVR but still, that's just for replaying tomorrow, the runway in slow motion.

I posted a few things today on etsy and I received an etsy purchase in the mail! Yay! A super cute daisy necklace, I LOVE it! I got it from littleputbooks. It makes me feel pretty, a real pick me up piece of jewelry.

See her awesome stuff at http://www.littleputbooks.etsy.com

I am seeing some networking action from all my hard work, more followers on twitter, convos from my team, new freinds on my craft corner. I guess before I get any new sales, I will have to make myself a little famous first!

I know I said this blog would be about Skunks for Skyla, but I want to get them all up on the site and send out a message to my facebook fans first, so, it's coming!

Looky there, I'm not tired anymore and Project Runway starts in 15 minutes! Take me away Tim Gunn!

Skunks are getting some action!

First, some real life storytime. I took my beloved 15 month old to the fire station today and he got a big red fireman's hat. It's pretty stinking cute, of course I didn't bring the camera. It has been busy charging up for my etsy life tasks!

I took action! Pictures galore! I did eight more product shoots today, mostly skunks. I spent much time on etsy community asking advice in the "critique my shop" forums. I took some advice on my new photos and rolled from there.

I also tried a new tactic, I sent out convos to all my team members on the Bama team, I just joined, and I have already gotten some friendly replies. It never hurts to network and support eachother!

Well, here are some photos, I am working on keeping it short, if you think I am wordy on a blog, you should hang out with me sometime! I usually get along with shy quiet people who don't like to talk much themselves. :)

Next up: Skunks for Skyla update

Photos Using Auto Afterall

Ok, so I procrastinated even AFTER making my big declaration in my last post. Yesterday, I did not blog at all, but I did read alot of etsy emails and look at etsy stuff, and, woops, even bought a necklace. I also spent a good amount of time on my Project Runway maternity blouse. It's...well, it's happening, sortof!

TODAY, I got down to business! And I was still super tired, and heartburned, but I was determined. I read a bunch more in my photography books from the library, and I made a "To Do" list for how to snowball your etsy business that was in an email from a forum on, you guessed it, etsy.

First things first, I decided to get some photos done and post some pics! I took a whole camera full of photos and even posted my updates on facebook AND twitter! And look, I am blogging!

Here is an extrememly helpful link to those of you needing a little oomph in your etsy business, I am all over it!

http://www.etsy.com/forums_thread.php?thread_id=5436688&utm_source=etsy+success&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=etsy_success_082009

And here are my beautiful new pictures! I cannot believe after going through and writiting down every single function my camera had, with notes on which options, flash, no flash, overhead light on, off, etc. that I got the best pics by using Auto, no overhead light (the whole reason my "photo studio" is set up in the bathroom under the sunlamp) and red eye reduction flash. There are no eyes to worry about, well, at least they are only of the felt variety!

I am definitely still a beginner when it comes to photography, but my pictures are getting better! Now to keep my momentum and pic and post, pic and post!

More tomorrow!

Back in Action, Slacker Be Gone!

I have come up with alot of excuses lately as to why I haven't been giving my crafting the attention it needs. The In Laws visitied. My Mommy Group has been really active and I have been appointed an office. I'm in two book clubs. Facebook. Lincoln has started a new Mommy and Me class. I am pregnant. (That last sentence just replaced a very long rant about the miracle of the third trimester) And obviously, Project Runway has started again!

Wow. that's alot of excuses.

I did however finish my first assembly line of skunks, and it did not end up taking as long as I thought. 2 hrs. per skunk, and that is for the first batch, so there was a lot of time spent in trial and error and ripping seams to resew inside-out-and-upside-down ears. Now that I have completed the first 11, (barring the last three which I need to buy Poly-fil for) the next assembly line should go more quickly per skunk. I was getting really fast on the last few.

Since I was so off track and haven't picked up my polyfil yet, I decided to do a sewing machine refresher and design myself a maternity top. It's taking shape, and I am making the pattern myself, so it is an adventure. More on that in future blogs.

My new and fresh get-started-again plan is to make myself some deadlines!

• Buy polyfil
• Finish taking and adding pictures of etsy inventory
• Start skunk assembly line #2: 20 skunks!
• Daily blog

I need to get these done before my impending due date, which will probably put me off the radar a little, but I will try to continue blogging, because this is what makes me stick to my plan!!!

Oh yeah, and bloggers needing motivation, go see Julie and Julia. She was blogtastic.