Friday, May 28, 2010

Busy Sewing





Things are slowing way down in my etsy shop, but I have been busy sewing anyway :) I'm working on a few custom orders, and trying to create as much as I can for an upcoming craft show. This will be my first one, so any tips or ideas will be much appreciated! I'm glad I have a handy husband who can help me with the display! In fact, I saw something neat on a blog: http://www.blogmimigreen.com/blog/2008/05/craft-show-good.html. She doesn't sell the same stuff I do, but I liked the thingy made with PVC pipe. I could hang smaller dresses and skirts on something like that, and borrow a rolling hanger from someone to hang some other stuff, as well as placing things on the table. I also plan to make some hair accesories. (for girls and women!)

I am also finally getting some of the professional photos of some clothes I made awhile ago. The little girl is such an adorable model, and the photographer is great! The pictures above are some that she took along with a dress I just made for the craft show. In the meantime, I am praying for more online sales to come my way so I can buy the supplies I need! :D
Aaaand just so everyone knows, right now I am doing a summer special: spend $30 or more in the shop and recieve 15% off. So even if you only spend $30, you still get at least $4.50 off! This does not include shopping.

Wednesday, May 19, 2010

Pretty Dress


I recently made a new dress for a customer. It is the double ruffle knot dress, but she chose the fabrics. She chose some from Nicey Jane, which is currently my favorite line! Anyway, it turned out pretty cute.

I am considering doing a craft show pretty soon. I am just nervous about putting so much money/work into it and then not making sales! Especially money...we just don't have a lot, and we are trying to scrape together every penny for our trip this summer. It gives me anxiety to think about it, and I am just so frustrated because we try so hard and it's never enough. Something comes up and suddenly we are overdrafted because we didn't transfer enough money in time! And online banking is a little deceiving because sometimes they do not show the transaction until a day later, but the date is still from the day before. Anyway, if we were like normal people, maybe we would not have to transfer money from savings at all! I'm so tired of this.

Odin is doing really well with potty training, finally! He has been dry all day so far and peeing in the potty, so I'm pretty excited about that! Hopefully it's enough to cheer me up for now.

Monday, May 10, 2010

I'm being lazy


But laziness is no excuse to not update my blog. The thing is, in every other part of my life I am not being lazy. I'm keeping the house clean (for the most part), writing, sewing, spending time with family...lots of reading, but that doesn't exert much effort. I love to read and am now on a reading kick, which is why I had to force myself to narrow my library holds to 6. I should be getting those this week :) I also have tons of books that are not available at the library that I want to purchase, so I am doing my best to find them used on Amazon. I love Amazon!

Recently Adam and I and the kids all went to dinner with a favorite author, Bryan Davis, and his daughter and another family was there also. It was really neat to be able to ask whatever questions I wanted, discuss my own writing, etc. I don't really know any other writers (I'm talking about people like me, not "famous" ones), so I didn't realize how enjoyable it is to talk about writing with someone who does it...especially someone who is experienced with it. I wish I had a writer friends to correspond with, or at least someone who loves books as much as I do. Bryan Davis wrote the Dragons in Our Midst series, as well as a few others that I love. Christian fantasy is my favorite genre to read AND write, although I read secular fantasy as well, as long as it is "clean." I just don't enjoy reading books with graphic scenes or horrible language...that's just me. The Christian books also have wonderful messages, so I'm saving them on the shelf for my kids. And our bookshelf is overflowing...sigh.

As far as my writing goes, I am seeking out an agent or publisher by querying whomever I can find that represents my type of writing! I am working on the second book in my series, which is loosely titled Brenechia, and I am not opposed to changing the title. If you're wondering, I will only give you the bare bones: it's about a family that escapes to another world because they're being pursue by some bad guys, and in this new world (Brenechia) every believer has powerful gifts. I make it clear that the gifts come from God, and the characters must use their gifts together to fight evil. You might say it's been done before, but I think the characters are unique and the plot is more complicated than it sounds. The main characters are the siblings (two teenagers and two young adults, and the spouse of one of the daughters). So that's all I'm telling the public right now...I am just a little protective of my story :) And it's one I believe in!

As for sewing...my shop is doing fine for now. I don't expect it to ever be a full fledged business, and with my writing, I don't have time for that anyway, but I do enjoy it and really need the money from it right now! I've included a photo of a new top. The kids are doing well, but Ally is still not waking. She's stubborn like her mommy!