Latest flower

Apricot Dahlia

The first flower made with the new felt!  

I love how soft and pretty it is!

New Wool Felt Colors!

After much anticipation and waiting and waiting, my beautiful new 100% wool felt has arrived!  

{As I said before, man, I am LOVING my mailbox this week!}

I have 12 new colors to choose from.

I can't wait to get started on more flowers!!

Bombings

Anyone heard of Yarn Bombing before?

Apparently, it has been around for a while now.  

If you don't know, it's yarn graffiti.

Well, I just stumbled upon such a thing recently and wanted to share with others who may not be in the know, such as myself.  Even in our town, there are yarn bombings popping up all over.

My favorite one has got to be of the bull, how adorable is that?

Now that you know what it is, be on the look out, people are bombing everywhere!

{oh, and take pictures...and share!}

more great stuff

Man, I am totally LOVING my mailbox this week...aside from that tiny issue of the post being closed on Monday.  But I will overlook that complaint.

Everyday something awesome has arrived.

Today has been no exception...

First, my Anthropologie Catalog arrived...squeal.
{I think I'm turning into a pig, I've had so many things to squeal over lately}
Man, is it possible that one store could have in it's possession everything that is lovely and covetable?
Yes, and it's name is Anthropologie.

This catalog did not disappoint.
A few of the new items to put on my list of things to wish I could wish for are:

Greenfinch Setee
$3,898

Bike Lane Dress
$158

So those are my most drooled over items in their recent catalog.

While I'm on the topic of Anthro, here are my most favorite pieces of their furniture...

$3,298.00

$2,898.00

Can't you envision me lounging on that Poppy Covered Sofa?

MAN, I LOVE IT!  It's my fave.  Maybe it'll go on sale?

The best part about the Anthro catalog is tearing out the pages, wiping off the drool, and making envelopes :)

Next up for mail arrivals is my netflix dvd.  What did I get?

I Love this movie.  I saw it with my little sis when it came out.  Now I get to enjoy it at home, until I mail it back...  This should probably go on my "to-buy" list at some point.  I love Anne Hathaway.  The main reason being that she reminds me of my dear friend Sharon.  Not really in looks, except they both are beautiful and had naturally gorgeous red lips.  But the highest similarity is in quirkiness.  When Princess Diaries came out, I couldn't stop thinking "this is Sharon, this is Sharon, this is Sharon" over and over and over.  And ever since then, every time I see a movie with Anne Hathaway I get to think about my beloved friend Sharon, whom I miss terribly. 

  

So not only does this movie make me cry on it's own, but because of the missing my friend factor, I sob.

Watch it with a box of tissues.

Third up in the mail today is....

E's first grade pictures!

YAY!

Took them long enough, that's for sure!

I had him sit down and personally address almost every single one.

And while I'm at it, I'll share what KennaKat worked on yesterday...

She's making a book.

It's so cute.  She even made me sew it.

Okey doke, time to get off of here, start dinner (pot roast, mmm), finish preparing for the meeting,

I can't wait to find out when our convention is!  Hopefully our whole circuit will be together this time.

Have a great rest of the week!

Getting Stuff

Guess what came in the mail Tuesday?

The business cards!

It's official!
{Business Cards makes it official}

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guess what I picked up on Monday?

I found a local lady on Etsy who makes ties!

Check her out at Duckystuff

She's right down the road from Harris Teeter.

She does ties for size 3m and up.  Bow ties, neck ties, fake neck ties, guys ties, you name it.

The best part is, she gets her fabric from an etsy store called fabric shoppe with hundreds of wonderful fabrics.  So you choose whatever you want, she orders it, and makes the tie in the style you choose.  I also got her to throw in a 6in square of fabric {for free, though I offered to pay} so that I can make a matching hair bow for KennaKat!

I can't wait to order more!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Guess what I picked up in Burlington Tuesday?

My Platter!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hubby and I got to sneak in a little date night Tuesday night!

Ethylwolfe spent the night with P&K, and KennaKat with Nani and Papa! WooHoo!

Hubby and I went to see the new Sherlock Holmes movie, it was great.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That's where I am now.  This is the last few days of Ethylwolfe's break and I'm really bummed.  I don't want to send him back.  We didn't get to do as many fun things as I would have liked, but I think he enjoyed his time off.  Besides, we'll be having another 3 weeks off in 9 1/2 weeks, so no worries!

There are still many more things I'm anxious to get in the mail...letters from pen pals {yes, I have pen pals and I love it!  The paper, the handmade envelopes, the stamps, the waiting, the receiving, all of it!}... wool felt... pictures... movies... and the beat goes on....La de da de de, la de da de da

New Flowers In The Shop

New flowers have been listed in the shop.

Trying out different petal shapes, I don't know what type of flower I'd call it...maybe a carnation?  

Any suggestions?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89438058/oatmeal-felt-flower-pinheadbandclip-you

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89526719/peacock-blue-felt-flower-pinclipheadband

http://www.etsy.com/listing/89525482/goldenrod-felt-flower-pinheadbandclip

Let me know what you think of the new design...better, worse, no difference?

I have made it through the month of December.  My first 28 days have been fun/exciting/nerve-racking!
It is such a surreal feeling to have people actually WANT something that I made.
It's crazy really.

In my first month, I sold 14 flowers...how cool is that?!?
I haven't pocketed any of the earnings, I just turn around and buy more supplies. :)
Which is what I wanted to be able to do, fund my obsession.

I have ordered 12 new beautiful colors of 100% wool felt from a fellow etsy'er, more beads, and more cool paper to make my boxes.
I can't wait for the felt to arrive and make more fun flowers!

The person I ordered the felt from gave some good tips for having a shop.  Some are going to be hard to  incorporate, like changing my prices to show their true value.  Yeah, I guess I need to work on that, but the thought of charging anything for something I gladly gave away for free is really really tough.  Plus I like to think that everyone has my mindset..."They want how much for that?  I could make it myself!  Is it on sale?"...Well yes, obviously I can make it myself, but I guess not everyone wants to.

So that's what I'm struggling with right now.  Pricing for value/worth/time/expense/and competition.  She says "don't be shy about your pricing. There is perceived value for items that are priced accordingly. Better materials certainly justify higher cost. Don't be afraid that people won't be willing to pay a fair amount for your hand crafted item. "   Yes, that is my biggest struggle...placing a value on something I made.

Current goals I'll be working on in the future are more hand-sewn flowers, higher quality materials, and a variety of prices to attract a variety of customers.

A big huge thank you for all of your support and encouragement!

THANK YOU!!!

 My little sister came over for a visit on Thursday!

I rarely get to see her, but she is a major favorite in this house.

In fact, if I want any special time with her, I have to leave the kids behind and take her somewhere.

KennaKat lives snuggled in her lap, and if she wasn't playing games with one of them, then she was reading to them.  You are such a great Aunt JB!

When I picked her up on Thursday, I got to see my niece!!!  I was so happy to see her, because I never get to.  Sadly, my kids didn't recognize her.  That made me very sad.  But even though they didn't recognize her, they still asked if she could join us for their sleepover.  Oh if only she could :(

She is now 10 and in 5th grade.  Tell me it's not true.

I took my lil sis home Friday night and got to ride on the new Triangle Expressway.  The first toll road in the area.  Fortunately the toll wont open until the 3rd.  I like how quickly I can scoot on over to Apex and Cary, but I'm none too thrilled about paying a toll.

If you are in need of a good laugh today, take a gander at me wearing the new specs...to add to the ridiculousness, I'm fresh out of bed, unshowered, bed-headed up, unmake-uped, and in the pj's.  I think I look like a man right out of the 70's, give me a trucker hat and call me Fred.

And to complete the post, look at what we have... a new sonic obsessed artist in the family.  That's right, Ethylwolfe's obsession has now infected KennaKat and there are tons of Sonic pictures all over the house.  Gold Sonic at that.  I love his long legs and that he has no arms, and she got his sneakers really well. :)

Happy Sunday everyone!  Our meeting has been moved to 4pm.  What shall I do with my day?  Oh don't worry about me, I can always think of something :)

Last post of 2011...

I have to type quickly as I only have 2 minutes...

My red large plastic glasses came today and they are hilarious.

The son is mad at me for wearing ugly glasses, and the hubby laughs every time he looks at me.

But I can see and I'm not getting constant headaches from looking at stuff.  That's a plus.

Got a call that my platter has been fired and glazed so I look forward to picking that up next week.

Also, other packages I look forward to receiving are...

Ethylwolfe's school pictures, family pictures, a tie I had made for E, and my business cards.

SO I will be haunting the postlady next week!

Ok, that's all.

Good night folks!