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Wedding Crafting

Uncategorized April 3, 2011

I was so happy on Friday, my stamp from Love to Create Stamps on Etsy found its way to my mail box. It came right in time, because I’ve been in the mood to do something a little crafty, as a slight break from sewing nothing but panties.

So, I grabbed 3 yards of muslin, a ball of jute twine, a yard of duppioni silk, a yard of black grosgrain ribbon, and various other trimmings and made my bird seed confetti bags, ring cushion, and garter.
I love the stamp, it prints so nicely on the muslin. I made about 30 bags today and it only took me about an hour. I will do one more batch another day and that will be it. We will hand these out with our programs and guests can keep them as mementos or use the seeds as confetti. I am also going to use the stamp on our programs, along with a “marrying” picture that Dan’s niece drew.
I got the idea for our pillow cushion from Martha Stewart. In all of my wedding researching, I tend to like her projects the best. The pillow went together so easily, and is so cute. I made mine a little bigger than the suggested 6×6 and cut out 8×8 squares instead.
Lastly, I made up a small garter, which includes my something Blue (now that I cannot, for the life of me, find the Pour La Victoire Shoes in my size anywhere). I still need to make a toss garter, as I think I’d like to keep this one as a keepsake.
We stopped in a suit store today and started looking at suits. We are thinking a black suit with a fine pin stripe, white shirt and tie, and a coordinating pocket square. Dan looks incredibly handsome in a nice jacket, I can’t wait to see him in a full suit! It will be the first time I’ve ever seen him in one!

Blog Love

Uncategorized April 2, 2011

I wanted to share a few blogs that featured some of my work. The first is Simply Colette , she included a really nice little write up about what I do, which really made my day! Secondly is, Prairie Seed, which featured one of my photos. Their blog is absolutely stunning, simple and elegant! I’ve spent some time this morning drooling over their blog! I was also over at PetalHandmade. Looking at her kids clothes makes me want to have kids even more! So cute! I can’t wait til Dan and I have little ones to dress.

Lastly, I love this treasury, and I wanted to share it with you.

Uncategorized March 30, 2011

Yesterday my mind was in a total jumble. I couldn’t make a decision about anything. I cut out and sewed most of my orders, went to the fabric store where I turned in circles and couldn’t decide on anything, came home and took a bunch of fabric out of my cabinet and made a big mess… but made no panties! I didn’t bake, I cleaned but then made a mess again, I didn’t do much of anything, but felt exhausted by the end of the day.
I did finish a romper and I photographed my new ruffle bloomers (which you can see more of on my Etsy). I also found out that there will be a big sale at my local fabric store, so I am waiting to purchase fabric to do my whack-load of ready made stuff.

Then, to distract me further, The UPS guy arrived with my package from Lush! Oh happy day! I slathered myself in their new mud body scrub, soaped up with their sandstone soap (I felt like I was at the beach), cleansed with some Herbalism, put on a face mask, then rubbed my body down with the Each Peach massage bar. My skin is so soft and glowing, and I smell like a yummy fruit cocktail. I was really surprised how little of the mud-scrub I had to use. It comes in a small cube, about 1 1/2″ x 1 1/2″, I figured it would be a one use deal, but there is a lot left, and I really like the smell.
I also bought the guest book for our wedding! I can’t wait to get it, I absolutely love it! She is going to switch up the red ribbon for a magenta ribbon to match our colour scheme. I’m still waiting on my custom made stamp to start making my bird seed bags. I mentioned my bird-seed instead of confetti idea to my Mom…. who I forgot, is terrified of birds. Needless to say, she will not be partaking in the birdseed tossing…
Dan got the go-ahead to write his test to become a fully certified, licensed, automotive service technician (mechanic). I am so incredibly proud! He has worked so hard at it and really deserves all the benefits of being licensed… I just hope his employer recognizes it as much as I do!

Twitter and Facebook Pages

Uncategorized March 28, 2011

Who has twitter? I have a Twitter Account for Ohhh Lulu. I’m not sure I really get Twitter, even though I’ve been using it for months now. But if you have a twitter account, I’d love to follow your tweets! Anyone else out there have Facebook Fan or Business Pages? I do! And I’d love to “like” yours too! I am desperatly trying to find ways to pass the time here at work. Anyone know any great websites? Funny websites? Interesting, thought provoking websites? I’m going crazy with boredom… To be honest, I’m not even sure why I’m employed here. I don’t really do anything!

Sunday night depression…

Uncategorized March 27, 2011

Ah, back to work tomorrow after a lovely day off. I do love my Sundays.

This morning I managed to sew a new take on my ruffled bloomers. I’ll have pictures to post later on in the week (the battery in my camera is dead!). My goal for this week is to sew a whole whack of ready-made ruffle bloomers to list on Etsy. I’m also going to try my luck at Sense of Fashion – as Marie at A Sewing Odyssey commented, “Nothing Ventured Nothing Gained” – This is something I need to live by more! I am also going to try to get more into some stores around this area. I live in a small town with a very vibrant summer-time waterfront, and a lot of cottagers. I have a feeling my items would really fit in with that niche. I am definitely going to try to take more chances over the next few months.
Lastly, I got a great little mention on Hopeless Lingerie’s Facebook Page. That sure was a surprise! Such a nice thing to find at the end of my Sunday. I’ve always loved their stuff.
Well… I suppose I should be off. I’m so sad to see this Sunday come to an end… It really was a great one; running in circles in the parking lot with Oliver, shopping with my Mom, sewing in front of a sun-filled window, a whole-whack load of great treasuries (I even made two) and now to curl up on the couch…

Ready to Ship!

Uncategorized March 23, 2011

I finished all but 1 outstanding orders today, packaged them up and shipped them out. Aren’t they pretty? I try to make the package as cute as what’s in it.

I feel a lot better now that I am caught up, I can try to relax a little… And think about new things to make. I really want to do a batch of ruffle bloomers to list post. I also stumbled upon a site called Sense of Fashion, which apparently is a new marketplace for independant designers and boutique owners. I signed up but haven’t listed anything yet. I think I would only do Ready Made over there. Anyone ever heard of this site? I’d love to hear more about it. I’d like more venues than Etsy to sell.
I’ve been thinking a lot about Ohhh Lulu and how happy I am with how its doing, with very little promotion, besides this blog and a twitter account. It made me think… what would happen if I advertised? Or maybe rented a booth in the local (and bustling) farmers market? Maybe the dreams of quitting my day job might become a reality?
Day job is becoming increasingly frustrating. I tried to give it a go, and start some new procedures, but everything is just backfiring. I am giving up, quite grumpily so. Dan’s apprenticeship completion is going slower than we expected, which means his raise keeps getting put off… which is frustrating us both. He so deserves it after all of his hard work!
In the good news department, I placed another gigantic order at Lush. I bought a bunch of stuff I’ve never tried before, including one of their face cleansers, masks, and scrubs. I highly recommend to anyone with dry, itchy skin to try their Body Butters and Massage Bars. I bought the Manage Too bar last time, and it is so rich and creamy and absorbs fast. My skin is so soft, and I smell good enough to eat! I highly, highly recommend the stuff. I can’t wait until my order arrives! It can never come fast enough.
I also purchased a custom made stamp off Etsy for the wedding. Dan and I are planning on sewing a million muslin bags for birdseed to toss at the wedding. We are going to stamp each one with our name and date of wedding. We’ll likely also use it on our favours (jars of marmalade!), and programs. We have the cutest picture that Dan’s niece drew of us “marrying” which we also hope to incorporate into the program. I am getting so many fun, DIY ideas for the wedding! Gotta get the glue guns going soon!

Wednesdays sew-a-thon

Uncategorized March 16, 2011
So, I didn’t finish up everything that I wanted to get done today, as always, but I did make a really pretty pair of panties.

I really love a good floral, and this one is quite nice… soft pink with rose and purple, looks great with black. I just happened to have some pink and black lace in my stash that I’ve been hoarding for years, not knowing what to do with it. It was wide lace, so I cut it in half, lengthwise, and ruffled it. I also added it in as a in-set appliqué.

I made another pair for my “everyday” collection, similar to my other Lace and Cotton Everyday Panties, but with slightly-gathered lace over the hips and two small bows. These ones are my testers!

And lastly, another ruffle bloomer, with ruffled crochet cotton lace and three grey, plastic vintage buttons. My camera was dying and the photo didn’t turn out so good…
I went to the park this morning with my cousin and her two little ones. I am so happy the weather is getting nicer. It was so fun to push the kids on the swings and to walk along the boardwalk…

Cookies and Hair Colour…

Uncategorized March 16, 2011
Yesterday was a busy day… I haven’t even sat down in front of my sewing machine in about a week. Today I will try to finish up all of my orders (they come in bunches!).
However, I got alot of “at home” stuff done. I made 2 loaves of bread, 2 dozen of my Grandmas cookies (check out her chicken scratch writing – makes cooking from her recipe cards like
cryptography), cleaned out my closet and donated a ton of stuff to Goodwill, took Oliver for a nice walk along the ice-covered lake, then took him to the vet in the afternoon.
The cookie recipe is a recipe that has been passed down through 3 generations! My grandma made them, my Mom made them, and now I am making them (however, with much less sugar!). Does anyone else have any recipes that have been passed down like that? They are so yummy, and the perfect cookie to make when you can’t decide what kind of cookie you want. They have peanut butter, coconut, chocolate chips, oats, and they should have rice crispies, but I was all out.
As for Oliver, I must say, I am so happy with the vet I found here, she is the first vet that I have had that seems to really care about the animals and our attachments to them. Oliver got his nails trimmed, his yearly vaccinations, a quick check up and some medicine for an on-going ear problem he has been having.
While we were there I noticed 2 very solemn faced guys in the waiting room who left without a dog… they either were having to put an animal down or had a dog that was pretty sick. I’ve been so lucky to have a very healthy Oliver, and I can’t even think about the day that I might have to make a decision like that. Oliver is such a huge part of my life, he sleeps all snuggled up to me at night, sits by me on the couch, on my lap in the car, by my feet as I cook, and right now is sleeping with his head on my laptop as I type. I’m not sure what I’d do without my monster, 32lbs pug.

In other news, exciting news. I changed my hair colour. I’ve been blonde for years, for far too many years. My hair was getting pretty brittle and dry and flat and paired with my pale skin, it just wasn’t doing anything for me. So, I dyed it back to my natural colour and I love it! I might actually go a tad more red….

Two in a week… I must have done something good…

Uncategorized March 12, 2011

This week several great things have happened to me. Let me first start of by saying that Thursday was a terrible, stressful day, but my dear Dan showed his true colours by pulling through honourably as always. We ended a terrible day with a feat of good Samaritan-ship and now the universe is paying back with all kinds of good fortune.

1. I lost a very important key the day my dad had his heart attack… my key ring was loose and keys flew everywhere in my haste to get home… Yesterday Dan found it sitting in a melting snow bank.

2. A treasury I made was on the front page this morning!

3. My item was featured on the front page.

4. I no longer need to wear a ratty uniform shirt to work and am now free to choose my OWN clothes like a grown up!

So, as a whole, it has been a fantastic couple of days, after some very, very stressful times.

I work a short shift today, then am looking forward to a day off with Dan. We finished up our registry on Wednesday and got some fantastic stuff. This weekend I might try to start crafting some decorations… or just play video games, not sure which way I’ll go yet!

GOAL!

Uncategorized March 10, 2011

My Goal for the next 3 months was to make it onto Etsy’s front page, and it looks like I just achieved my goal!

Now what?