Past Crafty Endeavors

I didn't start doing any of these things thinking I was gonna make make money. They started as hobbies and creative outlets and selling came later.

My mother and I started selling at craft shows together in 1987. She made dolls, wreaths, candy, florals and a variety of other things, I painted sweatshirts mostly. I painted them and painted them and painted them. Branched out into tshirts, pant/shirt combos and denim button downs before it was all over. Did this for a little over ten years.

I really enjoyed it and could literally sit up all night and paint. The shows would make me a nervous wreck, but I enjoyed the painting and even though I was using a lot of patterns, I still felt like I was being creative. I sold nearly every shirt I ever painted and made good money at it. We would often sell out (or be down to 5 or less) day 1 of a show and I'd go home and stay up all night painting more! I stayed so busy painting for shows and taking orders for people that it became a second job.

Then it took this weird turn where I was mostly taking orders, which was fine 'cause I made more $ that way, but instead of me deciding what designs I wanted to use and how I wanted the finished product to look, people began telling me how they wanted it done. "I want the puppy to be wearing a blue shirt with orange polka dots, his eybrows should be slightly tilted inward, and I want three brown spots on his face, also, paint a fence with some flowers behind him...but make them pale pink with lavender centers" OK, maybe it wasn't THAT specific, but you get the idea. I wanted the money and I have a hard time saying no, so I did it. But I absolutely hated someone telling me how to "do my thing", so I just stopped. I don't care if I ever paint another shirt as long as I live. And I've been asked as recently as this school year, but I cringe at the thought. And that's too bad.

At one point I had a ton of pictures of shirts...this photo of Mom at a booth and Jackie was all I could find today. Alf? Huh.A few years later, while I was selling vintage clothing on ebay, I tried my hand at painting purses. THIS was fun. I loved it! I bought vintage purses at thrift shops and either painted them or embellished them w/felt in long neck cats, cherry and poodle motifs.

I sold them(and many many vintage clothing items) on ebay. This was in the days before Etsy... They did really well and I again I made good money w/the combination of the purses and vintage clothes. I quit doing that when it became harder and harder to find decent things at the local thift shops. Somehow I've managed to save some pics of a few of those purses. Looking at them now, I see that there is some major room for improvement, but still, it was fun.My next go round was with jewelry, about four years ago. I really got into this one. I made a lot of bottle cap necklaces w/vintage images in them, beaded and button jewelry and I did some vintage images on cardstock w/beaded chains. I gave a lot as gifts, took it to one dismal craft show in Indiana, but I sold a lot of it at work. Again, I really had fun with the jewelry and it felt really creative. I'm not sure why I gave it up. I still have lots of supplies, hmmm....maybe I'll break out the beads one of these days. A few pics of stuff I had left and things I still wear.And now, I guess I'm itching to try again with the Etsy shop. I'm seriously thinking I want to try and sell aprons in the Etsy shop. I haven't been sewing long, I have much to learn and I know there are a bajillion aprons on Etsy. But they're SO much fun to make! I really do enjoy and use aprons...maybe that will come through in the shop. I don't know...I second guess myself a lot...but that 's my thought for now.

I still want to show off my supercute, completely awesome Etsy banner and share ideas for two more possible things to sell, so ya'll check back later!

Snow Day!!!

My brother and sis...Shea & Jackie, 1985

Remember how I was pining away for a snow day in my last post instead of that nasty storm? Well, we got a snow day today! And it looks like there is a good possibility of having another one tomorrow! Now, I may be singing the blues come May, but right now, I'm on cloud 9. I don't know what it is, but snow days just make me giddy. I think I've said this before, it's no different and no less exciting to me as an adult than it was when I was 8 years old.
A day off in the middle of the week! A day to do whatever I want. What will it be...
sewing?
reading?
watching movies?
trying out a new recipe finally?
perusing flickr and craftster for inspiration?
catching up on laundry?
cleaning house? NAH.
making chocolate cupcakes?
taking a nap?

What to do, what to do?

Ominous

This is what it looks like outside our front door right now. I don't know if it's translating in the photo or not, but those are some ugly black clouds rolling in. 70 mile per hour winds in some areas are predicted. And the storm sirens have just fired up. Why couldn't we have snow instead?
9:30p.m. update. The 70mph winds ended up being farther north, thank goodness. But still, it was WINDY, ya'll! For the most part, the storm blew right over us. The lights flickered a few times, it rained for a while, and the wind blew, but everything in calm now! It looked a lot uglier than it was. I still wish it'd snow...I want a snow day! Being out sick for nearly a week is NOT the same thing!

***NEXT DAY update*** Apparently it was as ugly as it looked. I headed out to work this morning and there were branches everywhere...some pretty big....then noticed that my next door neighbor had a huge tree uprooted and laying on top of their house! HUGE. Add "Oblivious" to the title of this post.

Mail Goodies and a Much Needed Clean-Up

Received some goodies in the mail lately! Got this cute fabric tray and ribbons from Steph who held a giveaway on her blog. SO cute! Perfect for holding all my little pieces of ribbon! My January Flickr Fat Quarter Swap from Basketblessed arrived. I am so in love with the cupcake fabric and pink ribbon!And on to the much needed clean up. I will admit that can stand a little mess and chaos, but this was getting ridiculous! We have designated one of our rooms as Mark's ebay, my crafty/sewing space. My crafty/sewing space looked like this on Friday. YIKES! No wonder I haven't been in much of a sewing mood lately!Mark's stores his ebay things in the walk in closet. And a LOT of it ends up on and in the computer cabinet too, but I won't mention that. ahem. Anyway, the closet looked like this...Trust me it was WAY worse than it looks in the picture. There's another wall and a cubby hole in the closet that you can't see which was crammed(nearly to the ceiling) full of more junk! We could step one foot into the closet and that was it. DIGGING had to occur to find anything. We sent three boxes full to Goodwill and had two giant bags full of trash. In addition to all of Mark's ebay stuff, more of my sewing stuff was crammed in the closet in along with what was piled up on the floor by the sewing table. It took till Sunday afternoon, but we finally got it in better shape. Most of my sewing things are now stored in the closet! I'd love to get a big black bookshelf for the sewing room so that I can have all my fabrics out where I can see them and sorted by colors! But for now, the ones that are for specific projects or are heavyweight fabric are stored in the now-roomy closet and the things I'm using for aprons & my current quilting projects are in the wicker baskets. Aaaah. So much better. And maybe Mark can list all of this stuff now that he can see it and get to it! ...and once he does I can COMPLETELY take over the closet with my sewing supplies...MMWA HA HA!

Now that it is done, let's hope we can keep it from turning into Clutter Central again!

Here is a teeny tiny sampling of weird & wacky things that were piled up in the ebay closet! Some have been listed, others sent away, many many more await their fate.
These three stuffed animals were trapped in there...but they ARE NOT headed for ebay. They are some of our toys from way back.
OK, so I'm off to the sew right now! I'm attempting to teach myself how to sew a French seam...oooh la la!

It's Time for Another Bloggy Giveaway!

Seems like we just did this! I don't know about ya'll, but I'm always up for free things! SO, if you want to play along, all you have to do is take a look at my giveaway item. If you'd like to have it for your very own, leave a comment and a valid email address. That's IT! You do not have to have a blog to play along and international play-uhs are welcome! I'll pick a comment at random when this is all over on Feb. 3rd and notify the winner!

I am giving away.....an...apron! Are you shocked? If you've been to my blog before you are most definitely NOT shocked...you know how I loves me some aprons! :) The only shocking thing about it is that it's not the amazing tea towel apron that I have made for the two previous giveaways. This one is a cafe style apron all done up for Valentine's Day. My flash was doing some wonky business with the colors..it's actually a shade between these two photos! Also...I may re-work the pocket, so if you win and it doesn't look exactly the same, don't be surprised! I'm still relatively new to sewing, so I don't always get things like I want them on the first go round.

A million(I exaggerate) other bloggers are giving things away this week! Head on over here to get in on the fun!

On another note, if you are stopping by for the first time, Welcome! Glad you're here! Check back later this week if you are willing to offer some advice on the following situation: I have thought about opening an Etsy shop for a while...and now I have! Did the fact that I have absolutely no merchandise stop me from opening an Etsy shop? HECK no! Of course, I could use a little advice on a few things, so ya'll come back and I'll show off my most excellent store banner, tell you what I have in mind and hopefully get some feedback!

Have fun with the giveaways!

Tom Cruise Crazy!

In light of all the hubbub over the Scientology video antics of our favorite insane wacky superstar as of late AND because I am really digging his music right now(see previous post) I thought I'd post this little ditty by Jonathan Coulton. Enjoy!

this is funny ya'll

I figure my sister NEVER hears the word "Ya'll" uttered in Poland, so I try and throw it in as often as possible. 'Zat OK with ya'll? Don't want her to lose her Western Kentucky accent.

Speaking of Jackie... If you've been here before you know that she and her husband Scott are living in Poland working as missionaries. I always picture missionaries living in huts and eating with their hands, so I'll say they're working for God, or they're ministering or maybe ministers who work in the missions field? They're Missionsters!! Shoot, I have a way with words, don't I?

ANYHOW, Jackie shares a lot of their life in Europe and their ministry on her blog. I highly recommend that you check it out. Insightful, inspiring and fun! But this. This made me laugh out loud.

Until I remembered I'm going to visit this summer.

Daily sightings in Poland. Ya'll check it out and say howdy to my lil' sis while your there!

Ugh.

One syllable....that's about all I can manage. Still have the gunk, so I'll make this short.

Thank you my bloggy friends for your well wishes! I am soooo behind on emails and blog reading. Will eventually catch up!

My father is doing well. No back brace, no physical therapy, no extended stay in the hospital necessary.

Today I shall lie on the couch and watch movies when I'm not in the bed sleeping...that is if my eyes stop being stuck together so that I CAN watch movies. Apparantly, Domestic Chicky and I have the same affliction.

You can't really tell, but I AM excited about the upcoming apron swap. I got my partner's name and blog addy. She is going to be fun!

If my apron swap partner swings by...I know I said I was in the "Large" category. By large...I just meant size large, you know, plain old large. NOT the mother from What's Eating Gilbert Grape? large. I am the torso-less person wearing the aprons in the pics on my blog...there might even be a torso shot down a few posts if either of those help w/regard to size. And I'm easy to please, so feel free to be as kooky and creative as you want! :)

OK, to the couch with me.

Whew.

My father underwent a major surgery on Friday. Thankfully, with the aid of much prayer and a competent and skilled surgeon, everything went very well. Dad's pretty tough...he's beat cancer twice and even though his doctor told us it was surprising he could walk with his spine in the condition it was in(pre-surgery), that failed to get him down. Of course we know it isn't just his "it runs in the family" hard-headedness that gets him through. It is the hand of God at work. That doesn't mean I don't worry, 'cause I'm human and I do(I worry about everything). Even through my prayers there's that little voice asking "what if". I really tried to tell myself to ignore that voice and to stay faithful, not to let that worry and that "what if" get to me. And compared to past crisis, I was better. Still, I'm glad it is over and that Dad is recuperating. Praise the Lord! And Whew!

On other fronts:

• We almost had a snow day(YAY) last week. But then it turned into a 1 hour delay (BOO)
• I have not sewn anything since the skirt.
• You will not be surprised to hear that although I have not sewn and vowed not to buy more fabric until I used up at least 1/4 of my stash, I have bought more fabric.
• I haven't cooked anything since Christmas. But I do have a few recipes from then to share.
• I think I am coming down with the plague again.
  
• Going to stay at the folks' house the next two nights and try to help out around the house, run errands and hopefully keep Dad from trying to do more than he needs to...cause he'd try.
• Dogs are taking over my brand new library for the next three days. I hope no one poops on the carpet.
• Managed to make it to my first Quilt Block of the Month meeting yesterday. I think it'll be fun. The first block is a nine patch that I think I can handle. The other blocks...I don't know what you call them, they go between the main block so I'll have to make 13 identical...are called Irish Chain. She started explaining how to put them together and my eyes just glazed over. We shall see how it turns out.
• Did I mention that I think I"m coming down with the plague?Back to bed with me.
  

A Sassy and Aprony Swap!

"Aprony". I like it...it works as an adjective, dontcha think?

I was wasting time as I tend to do when I need to be cleaning house, jumping from blog to blog, site to site when I landed on Tie One On. It's an aprony blog that I enjoy. By the way, the February Tie One On challenge is Polka Dots! ANYHOW, while there I discovered that Lucy is hosting The Sassy Apron Swap!

Sounds like loads of fun! Basically, you make an apron for a stranger and a stranger makes an apron for you. Sounds creepy when I put it like that...but it's not creepy at all! There are four seasonal swaps. The first is Spring, due in March. I'm excited to join in on this opportunity to spread aprony cheer all over Blogland! Non-Bloglandians are welcome as well! How's that for spreading aprony cheer? If you want the lowdown and you want to join in on the aprony goodness that is BOUND to ensue, head on over to the for the details!

Just do it before Jan. 20th, 'cause that's when the sign ups close.

The Future Soon

Music makes me happy. So much so that I tend to get a tad obsessive when it comes to certain performers/CDs, etc. For example, the soundtrack to Jersey Boys. I would venture to say that I've listened to that CD at least 5,697 times. I can sing every word to every song and I know the dialog too.

My latest obsession as far as music goes is Jonathan Coulton. Jackie & Scott's buddy David introduced us to his music a while back at a performance he gave. He sang a lovely little love song by Coulton called "Skullcrusher Mountain". We laughed and enjoyed it and I forgot that I was going to look the singer songwriter up online later. Last month, my brother Shea goes and leaves this post with Coulton's song Tom Cruise Crazy covered by a teenager playing a ukulele. And then he posts this one too. So of course I end up with CDs. I can't stop listening to them! Smart, funny lyrics and melodies you can sing along with. It's GREAT! This one may be my favorite. It's geeky and nerdy and even though I was never a science-y Omni Magazine reading kinda kid, I dig this song!





AND ON A TOTALLY UNRELATED BUT HAPPY NOTE...
Please stop by and welcome my friend Rhonda Ro on her return to the bloggy world. She's one of the coolest girls I know and I'm sure you'll enjoy her take on life! Tell her Kellie sent ya!

I made a skirt, darn it!

Making a skirt, or any type of clothing for that matter, is something I have wanted to do for a very long time. Seriously, I've thought about it for years. Since my days of playing with Fashion Plates and sketching the outfits in Seventeen Magazine I've thought about how much fun it could be to design and/or make my own clothes. Now that I have a few sewing projects under my belt and am becoming more confident, I decided it was time! SO, armed with some 5.00 a yard fabric and Simplicity 4137, I began.OK. I DO have new found sewing confidence, but this is still me, ya'll. I knew I wanted to try this pattern. I liked the "swingy-ness" of the skirt, and it says EASY on the pattern package. So it MUST be easy, right? Despite the word Easy printed on the package, I fretted for at least an hour before starting. "What if I can't do it?" "What if I make a complete mess of it?" Then I remembered that I'd only paid 5 bucks a yard for the fabric and that the pieces I'd be cutting out were big. Big enough to cut out and make into bags, checkbook covers, placemats or something if it came to that.

So I began. Laid out my fabric, got out my pattern. ACK!!! This fabric has a one way nap and it wasn't WIDE enough to fit the whole skirt! Yikes! I didn't want to make the shorter version. Short skirt+my fat legs=hideous. So I had to try and lengthen the short version as much as I could by measuring several inches down and trying to redraw the cutting line.

I did that and had a skirt front. Yay! But then...BOO! It didn't "look" big enough to fit me. Luckily, I had extra fabric, so I tried again and got more what I thought would work. Of course once I put the two pieces together, it was WAY too big. I had to take it up.

Next came the yoke. It was supposed to be cut on the bias. I THOUGHT I had extra fabric, remember? Not exactly. I didn't have enough to cut on the bias due to the fact that I had cut that first skirt front out and decided not to use it. I ended up cutting up that skirt front to make the yoke. NOT on the bias. I think this effected the fit and the way that they top of the skirt hangs. It's OK, but not entirely flattering.

It called for a drawstring with two buttonholes in the waist. I still don't have the new sewing machine out of the box(it has an auto buttonhole thingy), so I opted for an elastic waist. That part was fairly easy.

And then, I was done! Took me four hours. Was it easy as the pattern package promised? Well, no...but it wasn't THAT hard either. And I think I made it harder with my fabric choice. Still, despite being annoyed at myself at every flub, this was fun! I see more skirt making in my future. And I do love love love this corduroy apple print. Even if I am too old to be wearing it.
Yeah, to other people it will probably scream "Homemade!" and if a person looks closely they can find all the problems and no doubt crooked seams, but I don't care. I will wear it in public! I can always pair it with a long blouse or jacket to cover up the not entirely flattering waist yoke. I made a skirt, darn it! And I'm proud of myself!

Quilt Progress in Progress!

It's coming right along! This is the quilt I started back in November at my quilt class. I still have a triangle border to apply and the quilt top will be finished! YeeHaw! I still can't believe I'm doing this, that it's looking decent and I'm enjoying it! If you'd have told me this time last year that I'd be sewing with some success...much less a quilt top...and enjoying it...I've had laughed at you!

Apron Giveaways!

Hey Ya'll....Those great gals over at The Apronista are giving away two vintage aprons and this fantastic book! They're generous like that!Enter to win by heading over to The Apronista and leaving a comment. That's IT! But do it quick...the contest ends Friday at 9pm Pacific time.

Laziness has set in, but I still have crafty goals!

Well it's been a couple weeks since the Christmas crafting frenzy and I haven't sat down at the sewing machine or picked up an embroidery needle since. I think I may have gone into crafty overload. As of late, I mostly think about sewing. And buy books and fabric and things to use to when I finally do sew. Like these books: And this one. It has some very nice quilts that are beyond my current skill level, but someday!!! Sadly there are also a few lame projects, but all the books seem to have at least one or two of those. Speaking of craft books...if you, like me, are a craft book junkie, you will totally relate to this post on Lovestitches!

I also ordered fabric, patterns, and charm pack from fatquartershop.com. Lovely selection of very cottagey colors and prints. Very pretty and calming. Problem: I thought I was buying the right amount for a specific quilt pattern that I ordered. Turns out I didn't. Any recommendations for a quilt that uses 40 5" charm squares and 1 1/2 yards of fabric?

Even though I haven't done anything lately, I hope to be getting the new Janome(Christmas gift from Mark) out of the box. Soon.

I do have some things in mind that I'd like to make. Goals, if you will, for the upcoming year as far as my sewing/creating goes. In no particular order I would like to:

• Finish the quilt I started in quilt class.
• Make at least two or three more quilts.
• Finish a vacation scrapbook album that I meant to start but never did!
• Make a ragdoll. I am obsessed with this one. Must. Make. Ragdoll.
• Make a skirt or some other type of clothing.
• Make a skirt or some other type of clothing that I would actually wear outside of the house...not just in the yard or to the garage, either.
• Continue learning to become a better cook. I have to approach cooking in the same way I do crafts--as creating something or learning something new or I just won't do it.
• Learn to crochet
  
• Make jewelry again.
• Make at least one project from this book that I HAD to have.
• Open an Etsy shop with things in it that people would buy! Two of you have nudged me in that direction, and I'd like to at least give it a try. Must improve in my skills first! You know, like nunchuck skills, bowhunting skills, computer hacking skills... Sorry for that! It's off the topic but certain words and phrases pop up and I am COMPELLED to quote movies, TV and certain comedians. I also repeat things said in interesting accents. My sister has the same strange disease, as does my brother, just not as severe.
  

There you have it. My list of creative goals for the year. I think it's mostly doable. Time will tell! So, what, if any, are your creative and crafty goals for 2008?

Now, I suppose if I'm going to accomplish any of this, I better get my hind-end in gear, huh? Off to the sewing machine with me!

Later, Ya'll!

Pillowcases, Vintage Tablecloths, Aprons, Flour Sack Towels and an Overpriced Typewriter Key...or...What I Bought at the Flea Market

Alrighty....you've seen all the things that I did not buy at the flea market. Here's a look at what I did bring home.

Flour sack towels from the Vermont Country Store. This was probably the best bargain of the day. I don't know what they sell for in the store but I paid THREE dollars for the set of six!A just-like-new vintage tablecloth in turquoise and orange. PERFECT colors for my kitchen! A mere 20 bucks! My favorite purchase of the day.This is so pretty...again, a perfect match for my table. I have a pale turquoise tablecloth in that same shade...this will look perfect topping it. Another $3.00 purchase.I picked up these adorable embroidered pillowcases for $6.50. That was for the pair!!! I checked for holes, stains...I couldn't figure out why for the life of me they only wanted $6.50, but I snatched them up! They don't match one single thing in my house and I don't collect penguins...BUT the handwork is amazing...tiny, perfect stitches. Someone poured their heart into making these sweet pillowcases and I just had to have them!You know I couldn't leave the flea market without at least one apron. I bought three that day!
This was for $2.00. Reminds me of Dorothy's jumper in the Wizard of Oz.These last two aprons were found at the same booth. The kind vendor only charged me $5.00 each! I love this Hawaii Souvenier apron! It was still in the package and written on the outside was "My Paul gave this to me". Awww. I hope Paul will be happy that 30-45 years after he bought this for his mother/sister/friend/sweetie or whoever she was, someone finally took it out of the package and will enjoy it!It came with cute matching potholders!THIS is an APRON? It was in the bins with her other aprons and the lady working that booth assured me that it was, in fact, an apron! Does anyone know anything about these?? And my "D'OH!" item of the day. I paid twelve hard earned dollars for this. An old typewriter key made into a pendant. No necklace included unless I wanted to pay another 12 bucks for a plain black leather cord. A moment of weakness.Remember the Enid Collins owl purse from my last post? Mark surprised me with it!! It's now perched atop the kitchen shelves with my other Enid Collins'. YAY!OK, I think we're done with flea markets for a while!

Note to Jackie & Scott: you have to find at least ONE European flea market that we can visit this Summer!

Sights from the Kentucky Flea Market, Louisville

First off, let me say that if you read my post about the Antique and Toy Mall, you'll be happy and relieved to learn(as was I) there were absolutely no creepy cymbal playing chimpanzee freaks to be found at the flea market. So they won't be sneaking up on you in this post.

Without further ado here are some of the sights from the Kentucky Flea Market in Louisville that Mark and I visited last weekend.

I thought these were so sweet...
You can't really see all the detail, but this was an absolutely gorgeous chenille bedspread.I am a collector of many things. At the top of my list of favorites are Enid Collins wooden handbags. These were lovely specimens, but I couldn't bring myself to spend 40 bucks a pop when who knows what might be around the next corner. I'm not a good bargainer either. Mark is great at wheeling and dealing but I usually just pay what the price tag says.
I have no words for this.
Spaghetti Poodles!! I love them Oodles! ( I made myself groan with that comment, you might as well too) Oh, if only I had the money to buy all of this! The only instance where dishes have ever made me drool. A set of this would look perfect in my kitchen! Who among us does not love costume jewelry? Hmmmm??? Personally, I can't get enough of it! When grouped together like this, it reminds me of something that belongs in a candy shop! I could have spent 30min. at this yummy booth alone. Sadly by the time I remembered I wanted to go back and check it out more thoroughly, we were on our way home. And what is it about Scotty Dogs? They're so dang cute! All grouped together like this makes them even more so!
I don't know why an otherwise extremely cool floor lamp would wear such a hideous hat. Maybe it is a member of the red hat society for lamps?So that's were the Leg Lamp from A Christmas Story came from!!! Who knew the leg lamp farm was in Louisville? I'm sure these will grow into fine specimens some day.I told you everyone needs a jaunty hat. Santa and his way groovy friend know it. Jaunty? Very!More proof that displaying items en masse can make anything look good...artistic, even.
...and more proof...

I stand corrected.
Overheard at the flea market: "Stubby! Lookit that! What in the world is that thang 'sposed to be anyway?" "And look! it costs 2500 dollars!"
"This here says it's an art sculpter. Why dangit, Sissy, that's jest some ole junk welded t'gether." "Shoot. I could do that!"
"Oh no you ain't! That thang looks like the devil! That thang is satanic! They shouldn't allow that mess in here! Whar's that booth where they sell real art? You know, pictures of kittens and gourds and such?" Someday I will have my very own brand new, shiny, not-played-with-by-anyone-else Raggedy Ann and Andy Dolls! Almost as scary as a creepy cymbal playing chimpanzee freak...but not. But bizarre it is. I can't even come up with a name for this thing it's so bizarre. Wild-hair-scary-eyelash-monster? Keyhole-headed clown-zombie? Help me out here.Alright, I don't want to leave you with the image of
Mr. Jalopy-Driving-Evil-Eye-Grinning-Ghost so here is something pretty and pink to sooth your rattled nerves.

Until next time...
Kellie