Wallets, Wallets, and More Wallets

I'm trying my darndest to get lots of stuff sewn up this week for the coming holidays and so far, it's going pretty well.  I have decided not to stress too much and just enjoy!  I am coming up with some crazy color schemes and designs.  The billfolds above are two of my favorite color combinations for the moment,  Last year I had a thing for red, grey, and black, and purple, grey, and black.  Now it's these!  They are both looking for new homes and are available with FREE SHIPPING from my Etsy shop

New in Red

I finished these two up this weekend and now they are waiting in my Etsy shop to go to new homes!  Can you tell that I really like how red, black, and grey look together:)  After a very busy week, I am back to cutting and sewing and gearing up for the holidays.  I have one more great big red pouch to sew up and then I'm on to some purple things and billfolds.  Wheeeeee!!!!!!!!!!!!

Purple, Blue, Black, and Yellow

Many moons ago, my dear friend Kathy, who sends me lots of leather and suede in the most glorious colors and textures ever, sent me a HUGE school bus yellow leather trench coat.  I have made a few things with the leather but hadn't really found a good match for it in my designs.  Now I think I finally have!  These two are now available in my Etsy shop. I am hoping to add what I can to this years collection of goodies.  Thanks for looking!

New Stuff and Stuff

I am finishing up wallets left and right here and thought I would go ahead and list one today!  So here we go!  This one in red, rust, purple, and brown is now all set for it's new home in my Etsy shop.  It has been really busy the last few days but fun and busy which is my favorite.  A little bit of sewing, a visit to the pumpkin patch, helping in Ed's classroom, the school carnival, and getting ready for the very many birthdays that October brings us, not to mention Halloween!  Luckily, the kids both have their costumes already.  Just a little bit of fussing and fixing and all will be done for the big day!  I for see many fun times ahead. Happy October!

Building up my Shops

So, after this weekend, I should be able to concentrate on strictly building up the inventory in my shops. I am thinking about cancelling my icraft shop and just concentrating on Etsy and artfire for now. I just need a spot for my handbags for now, and that's what I am doing with icraft. I love the site, but I spend way more time on the other two. Although, I have promised myself that I will work strictly on leather bags, since the fabric ones don't do very well for me. So, I will be finishing up the few custom orders that I have and a couple of other projects(collars, belts, etc.) so I can get a bunch of wallets, cuffs, and etc. cut out and ready to put together. My plan is to be prepared for the arrival of baby Ed(that's her new name) and the holiday season this year, so I am starting now. I want to get my already established designs ready to go so I can focus my time in the early Fall on a couple of new ones, mainly guitar straps and belts, and a few smaller items. I hope to have lots of pictures of my progress to share over the next few weeks, wish me luck. Happy Fourth of July all! Enjoy your festivities!

A Little Time Alone!

My two um "latest" billfold designs that I accidentally forgot to list way back when, hope you like them!

Mark took the kiddo to run errands so I get to hang out and relax for a few. I have decided to split my time between making a new cuff and perusing Etsy for new tee-shirts. I am itching for some interesting clothing right now! I hope I find something I can't live without. I hope to have the new cuff up and listed by Monday. I am really having fun with it:)

A Long, Long Day

Yes, very long indeed. After a week of whirlwind shopping, visits, and adventures to have such a quiet uneventful day seemed awfully boring. Just rainy and quiet and not much of anything happening. Not that I am complaining, but it is so strange to me, how easily it is to become so used to busy, busy, busy, and when the busy is gone, I kind of don't know what to do with myself. So I used my time to work a bit and start a new shop. I decided to try an Artfire shop after all. I see that it is a big topic of discussion on Etsy right now, so out of curiosity I checked it out. It seemed to be a nice set-up, easy to use, and a nice lay-out, so I jumped in and decided to give it a go. We will see what happens. I still have my icraft shop which I love, but I need to give myself more opportunities to get out there. So here is to organizing, experimenting, and just seeing what happens, what harm can that do. Off to do a little bit of work, drink some dark and devilish brew, then get my butt to bed.

Something Cool for Etsy Peoples

This blog: ourminietsy is full of wonderful Etsy shops! I am so excited to be a part of it. I even found some shops I hadn't seen before and started making my holiday lists. Thanks to StrawberryAnarchy for putting this together. Another wonderful seller who has set up a wonderful way to get the word about Etsy out there. Yipee! Go check it out if you have a chance you might find something you fall in love with, I know I did:)

It's My Etsy-versary Today!

Here are some pretty flowers for all of you on this last day of July! An Etsy-versary present of sorts:)


A year ago today, I was super bummed out over just losing a little part-time job that I had counted on to make a little extra cash. It wasn't much, just some filing, filing out paperwork, making phone calls, a few hours a week. But it was my way of making a little extra money while I took care of Ciaran. Not that I needed the job, or even wanted it, it was just something to do, and I could bring Ciaran with me. Well, that didn't work out very well. Poor little guy didn't like the place I guess. It was too hard for me to get anything done with him there. He just wanted to be held and fed the whole time we were there. When I went in on my last day, the woman I worked for told me very kindly that she didn't think it was the appropriate job for me and that she was going to be re-structuring the position and make it easier for the people that already worked for her. Then she told me I should stick with childcare........I don't remember if I rolled my eyes at her or not. It is amazing how many people have said that to me, even after they hear all of my horror stories from my child care adventure. Apparently I should go back to school and get more education AND THEN open up my own child care center. I guess she really didn't bother to listen to my education and work history. Oh well, not many people do. (I worked as a teacher and ran three different child care programs over the last twenty-one years, I HATED IT towards the end and I wasn't quiet about that fact.)

If I remember correctly, I found and announcement for a local artist's new Etsy store in craigslist. I quickly looked Etsy up. Then I started looking around. Then I fell in love. It's funny I can not find that artist's shop now. I always meant to convo her to congratulate her on her shop and to thank her for introducing me to Etsy. So I say congratulations and Thank you to you anonymous artist person, wherever you may be.

So shortly after, I put my shop together and listed a few things. I think I listed my masks and sun catchers first, then some jewelry, then some leather pieces. It took me from my opening to Halloween to make my first sale, but I did and I am happy. I have met the most interesting and wonderful people through Etsy. That in itself is worth it all to me. It is because of Etsy that I can stay at home with Ciaran and follow my path.........thanks to all the people of Etsy for being so wonderful, You guys ROCK!

Aww Nuts!!!

I made it on to the front page of Etsy yesterday and I missed it! I can't believe I missed it. Oh well, what can you do. I just feel so happy to have been on the front page. How cool is that? It made my day, especially because I ended up sick and taking the night off from work to try to get my sinus headache under control. There really is nothing like spending your evening on the couch with a crazy 18 month old running loose around your house and being on the verge of vomit-city if you try to move in the slightest. Yuck! Thankfully, my young son had a little bit of mercy on me and curled up with me on the couch before bed. He is a sweet little guy.

I finished another wallet, I decided to expand on my polka dot card wallet design and add a cash pocket to this one. I really like how it turned out. The purple leather is incredibly soft and easy to work with so it was a good start to this design. I have another ready to go in orange suede but I have to think of a color combination/applique design that will work with the design of the wallet. That gets to be tricky with the button loop closure. Only because I want it all to flow well and not look like I stuck a button on the wallet just because.

On my way home from my postcard search yesterday afternoon, I decided to stop by one of our local thrift stores to look for treasures......AND I SCORED!!!! I found a lilac colored suede jacket for twenty-five cents and a big wool sweater in a brilliant green for two dollars. I was so happy! I rarely find such good deals at this particular place so my little head achy, pukey self was just singing happy songs on the way home yesterday. Now I have to figure out what I want to do to this particular sweater. I think I want to make another mangled cardigan. I really like how my first sweater adventure turned out, I think I want to do something similar but a little more asymmetrical. It should be a good adventure.

So we are off today to replenish our supply of thread, snaps, and cool and crazy lining material. Then coffee for me, cookie for the baby, and off once again to visit the two little fuzzy puppies that now own my parents . Have a good day all!

What is Up With My Style?

I don't really have one, but I do a lot of catalog, magazine browsing. I tend to fall in love with clothing and shoes that are highly inappropriate for the climate here. Lots of sandals and dresses and clothing that doesn't work well with walking long distances. I just fell in love with a pair of boots with cut-outs all over them. Those will be perfect for the rainy season! I can't wait for super soggy feet! OOOOH and walking in the rain in soggy feet with heels, EVEN BETTER! It is a really good thing that I do not have extra money to spend these days or I would be making some poor investments in a useless wardrobe. I will just stick with my chunky boots, knee socks, sweaters, and my one skirt that fits.

I finished another wallet yesterday. I wasn't sure about combining blue, brown, and red, but it worked really well. I think I may try a couple more with the same color combination/theme. Maybe a little pouch next time.

I am so excited about a postcard exchange through Etsy, I love postcards! I also love the idea of connecting with my fellow artsy/craftsy persons. I also signed up to be a pen pal and I love that too! I had so many pen pals when I was younger. It was so wonderful to read about their lives and living in other places. I even got to meet a couple of my pen pals when I was younger. Twins from England that used to write my best friend and I. It is a shame that we didn't keep in touch after that. I can't wait to start writing! Ciaran and I are heading out today to collect some postcards to send off. Then back home to make more wallets:)