Wishing You a Very Happy New Year!

May 2009 find you happy and healthy! (and crafting!)

k

New Shirt for my Supergirl!

John and Leith went to the park this morning (yes, it is December in Nebraska - but the weather's been decent the last few days!) and I got to do some sewing room stuff. I traced a pattern from Ottobre (1/2006, #17), and this afternoon during tyke's naptime, I managed to get it sewn up!

I think it's super cute (ha ha). The hem and sleeve ends need to be rolled, but I have to get some black serger thread. How do I not have black serger thread?!





Detail:



Yay! It's sewn entirely on the sewing machine because of the lack of the aforementioned black serger thread. (Seriously, it's a *basic color* for gosh sakes!)

She should be waking up in a few minutes...hopefully she likes it, too.

k

Changing Direction

This whole CPSIA thing has gotten me thinking. There are lots of alternatives. I can continue to create things for my family, as gifts for friends, even to sell locally. To be honest, none of my stuff is selling on Etsy anyway.

I'm thinking that I'll take down the kids' stuff and start offering aprons on Etsy. I have loads of fun, funky, cute, interesting fabrics, and I enjoyed making the aprons for Leith's teachers.

There are plenty of kids' clothing patterns I want to try, and will enjoy making more of my favorite patterns. I've been giving a lot of thought to doing home-based girls' clothes parties. Like tupperware, but kids' wear.

I'm still going to work toward getting the CPSC to grant exceptions. I'll still be creating things that I love and make me happy. Maybe it's not changing direction so much as taking a scenic detour.

k

CPSIA

I was lucky enough to be interviewed by the Lincoln Journal Star and Channel 8 News about how the CPSIA might affect small businesses/independent artisans who offer products geared toward children under the age of 12.

The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, itself, is 62 pages of legalese. It is mainly aimed at children's toys and child care articles. It may also be broadly interpreted to mean anything for use by a child under age 12. The US Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) is charged with interpretation of the law, but they have not yet given official opinions and interpretations. Manufacturers will be required to provide certificates of conformity. Those certificates must state that the item has been tested for lead phthalates and falls within statutory guidelines (less than 600 ppm of lead, less than 0.1% of benzyl butyl phthalate (BBP), di-butyl phthalate (DBP) or di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP)).

The CPSC will require third-party testing for lead and phthalates. Each type of item made will have to be tested. If a small manufacturer makes unique items, each and every item would need to be tested. It is the cost of the testing that will put many small manufacturers out of business.

There are literally hundreds of blogs and forums addressing the CPSIA issue. Because the CPSC has not issued its full interpretation, there is a lot of fear and worry about what will and will not be exempted. Many independent artists and manufacturers are very concerned that their products may be banned by the law.

This law will affect small manufacturers/artists/creators who do business on line and in other states. That means people with their own websites and etsy sellers who hand make plush toys and other items would not be able to sell their items without the testing and certificates.



http://www.toyassociation.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=CPSIA

http://www.fashion-incubator.com/archive/cpsia-what-must-be-tested/


Here are the Etsy shops of some of the LincolnHandmade Team members who will be affected by the CPSIA law:

owlpeople

craftyconservative

chimeracrochet

refibered


This Happy Panda blog entry gives an excellent description of lead and phthalates testing, as well as some of the possible costs. Ouch!



One more thing: Kaitlyn (owlpeople) talked to Fortenberry's office and they called over to the CPSA and verified that this will NOT affect us at the local level. We will still be able to do Farmers Market, Art Shows, etc. but it still doesn't get away from the fact that we can't sell on the national level without the certifications. It's also possible that prices will rise *because* we can't sell nationally.

Please contact the CPSC to show your support for independent artisans!

k

Wishing You a Very Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!!

My 91 year old grandmother got a Christmas wish yesterday....she was released from the hospital! She'd been admitted to BryanLGH East on Saturday, problems with her dialysis port. Surgery was Monday afternoon, and she was released Wednesday. Yay! We'll be driving to Aurora to see her today and give her a present or two.

Leith's opened one of her presents this morning: a shiny tricycle! She and Sarah have checked out their stockings already, too. Jess, Corey and Tyson are heading over in a few minutes so we'll have lots of present openings then it's time for breakfast! John's made some porridge and he'll be making pancakes and eggs. mmmmmmmm I can hardly wait!

Hope you have a wonderful holiday!

k

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Finally a post about the crafts Leith and I worked on last week.

We painted some ornaments and drizzled almond bark on some pretzels. The pretzels were supposed to be treats for kids and part of the teacher gifts, but since school was closed on Friday.....






The boxes for teachers and assistants are a la Christy. Thanks to her tip, I picked up some cute boxes (and treat bags) at Hobby Lobby!

The ornaments are plain craft glass balls. We poured a bit of paint into each one and sort of swirled it around. Mainly just shook them a bit until the paint covered the inside. A little red paint, a little white and some iridescent medium.



We also did a few Christmas tree ornaments, same method. Unfortunately one of them broke...of course it was my favorite one! Oh well.



Each of the ornaments is tied with a little bit of "Merry Christmas" ribbon.

This evening was the icing on the cake. Literally. It was time for making royal icing and putting it on the Christmas cake! Leith had fun helping daddy make the icing:







Happy Crafting!

k

Grosgrain Blog Giveaway

I have just discovered a fantastic, inspiring, fun blog: Grosgrain. Oh. My. Beautiful little dresses. Tutorials. Many, many giveaways!! Right now she's got a Sugar Cookie Frock GIVEAWAY!!!! happening. Check out that adorable dress! Plus that funky little doll is included! Keeping my fingers crossed for this one.

k

Snow Day!

Well, Ice Day is more descriptive....there's a thick, icky sheet of ice over everything outside. John couldn't even open the truck door! He did manage to get the car cleared, after half an hour, but he's decided to work from home anyway.

School's cancelled. Leith's watching PBS. John's working in the library. I'm debating whether or not to eat the drizzled pretzel sticks we made for classmate treats....guess which way I'm leaning? lol

I did finish the assistant teacher's apron yesterday! Unfortunately she won't get it until next year, as school's out for the year. Maybe this will teach me to give early next time.



Used some pretty Amy Butler "charmed" fabric and a green with hot pink polka dots for this one.

I've been having fun with aprons lately. There are a few more on my to-do list for gifts this year. Better get moving!

k

The road to hell and all that....

You know, it's paved with good intentions...

Yeah. So that whole "this is what I'll accomplish" post? hmmm, days have passed and nope. nada. nothing. Okay, in my defense I was sick on Sunday and Monday. Wait. Make that SICK. blegh. Finally feeling better but somehow it's now Wednesday evening and I haven't really accomplished anything.

Well, that's not entirely true. I have managed to make one teacher gift. A reversible apron. It's pretty cool, if I do say so myself. Tried something different: no pockets. I did put a loop on each side though, to hold a dish cloth.

Side A:




Side B:



The ties, straps and trim all around are Michael Miller bias tape, apple color. The color's not what I'd thought when I ordered it, but it goes perfectly with these fabrics!

Now to make another, similar, for the assistant teacher.....that's tomorrow's project!

k

Thirteen is my lucky number....

so why not use December 13 for my 50th post!

I'm still trying to get the hang of blogging. Been thinking that my goal from here on out (not New Year's Resolution) is to blog *something* every. single. day. Thirty days to make a habit, three days to break it, right?

My more immediate goals for the weekend are to finish up a couple of projects:

*I've signed up for a "House" swap - gotta love Gregory! (Who knew I'd like a cynical, sarcastic, intelligent guy?!) - so there are Shrinky Dinks to make and a bleach stencil to work on.

*Aprons! One for Leith's teacher and one for the assistant teacher, I'd like to get them done by Monday or Tuesday...then I'd like to make one for Leith and one for Tyson. Oh, and one for John, but don't tell him. (Hi Honey!) You know, if I'm doing that many anyway, I might as well make some fun aprons for Jess, Corey Sarah and my parents....

Those are the weekend projects, I have more, but want to keep the list do-able. I will post progress and completed project pictures tomorrow. There, now I *have* to work on these today!

Now you, get crafting too!

k

Is it cheating....

if yesterday's post was about the craft show and today's post has pictures from said craft show? I think not!








*****

Last night some of the LincolnHandmadeTeam members had a little holiday get together at my place. Did I take pictures? No. Of course not. Why would I need pictures? duh.

At least Lisa and Christy were thinking and got some photos. Maybe tomorrow I can cheat and link to their posts with pictures....

*****

Christy came over this morning for a sew-along. I hope she had at least as much fun as I had! She worked on a super secret project and I worked on a quick tunic for Leith.

Makes me think I should get moving on my idea to have a sew-along day once a month with crafty friends. Just need a place to gather, some drinks and treats, and some invites. I'm thinking a Saturday mid-day/afternoon once a month or so. Would you go to something like that? Get some motivation and inspiration, have a few laughs, just *be* with other creative folks.

Now I just need to bind the neck, do something with the sleeves and hem, then the tunic's done. Think I can finish it tonight so she can wear it to Cookies & Crafts Day at Montessori? We'll see. We'll see.

k

*sigh*

This past weekend was the "Seasons of Craft" show/fair. Several of the LincolnHandmadeTeam members got together and rented a booth. Four of us shared the space on Saturday (Christy, Lisa, Lynette and moi), then it was just me on Sunday. Can you say "colossal waste of time"? Not really, Saturday was actually kind of fun. Who would't want to hang out with crafty ladies?! Lots of laughs, very few buyers. Sunday was fewer laughs, what with being by myself most of the day, and even fewer sales.

Lisa showed up on Sunday afternoon and relieved my boredom by putting on a fashion show (camera batteries were drained, or I'd have taken a few pictures). She also helped me tear down at 3:45.

It's a good thing I don't base my self worth on how many sales I have (or don't have, in this case). There was a lot of positive feedback ("nice work" "that's so creative" "ohhhh pretty"), which is good.

Now it's time to charge up those batteries, get over the bummed outness of the weekend, and get some of those items posted on my etsy shop. You know etsy, where they actually appreciate good quality, handmade, stylish items....

k

More Sewn Goodness....

What started out as a frustrating week has turned into a relatively productive week....

Dubenko, my serger (what? you don't name your tools? ha!), was having fits. I'm sure it was all his fault. Couldn't have been my fault, right? Maybe he just needed a few days' rest. I'd been working him pretty hard....

Anyway, no amount of re-threading was solving the issue, so I simply walked away. Five days before a craft show, needing to make a few hats, sure, why not just ignore the problem. Tried again Tuesday morning and no go again. By this time I'd spent so much time trying to figure out the problem I couldn't even remember what a properly threaded serger was supposed to look like. So I went to the sewing machine shop and looked at a cooperative machine.

I didn't take Dubenko with me, just went in to see where the threads should go and remind myself how it should look. The shop owner suggested that I start chaining on a piece of fabric, instead of the hold/pull method I'd been using. So when I got back home I sat down, re-threaded Dubenko(again) and started on a piece of fabric. Guess what. Sometimes those repair dudes know what they're talking about. Yay! Dubenko and I are now on speaking terms again.

The productive part of the week? Well, I finished an adult size elf-ish hat. Since I know it fits grown ups, I'll be making more of those for the craft show this weekend. Then I made a(nother) Christmas dress for Leith.





This is my version of a curved bodice Olivia-type dress with dual sleeves. I think the bodice is too long, but in general I like how it turned out!

Then, since Dubenko and I were on a roll, I made a Curious George t-shirt for Leith. She *loves* that little monkey. I had just enough CG fabric to make front/back tunic length panels, and had the pretty yellow rib knit for the sleeves and neckline. When I showed this to John, he almost didn't believe that I'd made the whole thing, he asked where the neckline piece had come from! I took it as the compliment he meant.



and another, just 'cuz she's cute!



To top it all off, I did do some craft show work! Made these three reversible aprons.



I'm still tweaking the pattern (again, my own cobbled from bits here and there), but it's relativey fast and easy, so you can look forward to more, soon.

k

Something you don't see every day....

Heck, won't even be possible to see again until 2052!!

These were taken on December 1, 2008, looking to the Southwest, outside our West-facing attic window. Approximately 6:00p.m. CST. There were some leafless trees 'in the way' but the pictures are still pretty clear. This was much more impressive in person! We went for a drive and got to see some really clear views. Very clear skies, cool but not freezing temperatures. Oh, and later, when the moon was closer to the horizon, it was orangy! Beautiful, beautiful sights.

Clickable.

Without tripod:



With tripod:



Sony DSC-H2 camera.

k