2nd Craft Fair = Fail.

Driven by my impossible idea to not only work 12 hours a day planning/correcting homework/working on report cards/teaching 2nd grade, I decided to do a craft fair and go for my driver's license in the same week. There are not enough hours in the day. *hangs head* The good news? I passed my driving test! I drove myself to work yesterday and everything. Hooray! The bad news? I did not sew enough to add the huge holiday selection I wanted.

Here is my table, all decorated for Christmas (the fair was at a Catholic School). My loving boyfriend made a supply run to the fabric store to get me more stuffing, and also got a little garland and a stocking for the table, as well as some delicious coffee and breakfast. Since I had my drive test on Thursday and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows in Imax on Friday (SO AWESOME!!), I woke up at 5:30 this morning to try to sew those two holiday bears, and had to finish stuffing and hand sewing them shut while I was at the fair.

And here they are! My friend Tess bought the Holly Christmas Bear for a dance performance...she'll use the bear in her piece and then donate it to charity. Yay! These are two more holiday bears (which I must say I love!) and I have a third fabric, which is the same as the green but in red. I am LOVING these bears!

I had my custom order sheet out again, with some fabric samples, but no one even paused. I think they thought the bears were too expensive, and here's why that is very wrong. I read a blog entry on Etsy wherein the author described how you should price your items, and if I followed her advice, my bears would be over $50 each. Another crafter took a look at my bears and said I should charge $150 since they take so long to make. Very nice of him, but that would definitely be overcharging.

I love how the garland looks with the green and red bears...so cute.

"Don't you know someone who would love to get me for Christmas?"

I'm totally shameless. I was silently cheering for the 10 kids who were begging their parents for one of my bears. I know...horrible. But I didn't even make my table fee today. I did, however, sell the first successful bear, Yellow Bear. That's a milestone. He went home with a little boy who loves stuffed animals and the color yellow. I know he will be well loved. :)

So, I had this idea. If I don't get a job by January, I want to start a party hosting business. With my bears. Here's my idea: Parents book me to host their child's birthday party. I take care of age appropriate activities, manage the children and provide supplies, and each child goes home with a personalized stuffed animal of their choice. The parents would need to book a month in advance, have the style and colors picked out, as well as children attending and names. I haven't figured out how much I would charge, but I think it would be manageable and I could set my own hours. What do you think?



Penni Panda Finally Comes to Fruition

Today I finished Penni Panda. I think I will make the black circles behind her eyes a little bigger next time, but overall, I'm really happy with how she turned out! Like the Dalmatian puppy and Ruby 'Roo, Penni is made of soft fleece and is finished with a red polka dot bow. Her tongue is sticking out...my favorite touch. I've been planning her for a while now so it's nice to have her here at last!

She's extra plush and chubby too. :) I'm going to start on my next holiday bear, and I think I will make either a koala or an elephant. I've been avoiding the elephant because it means creating a new pattern for the head and ears. And I still want to make a zebra...perhaps that will come before the elephant. I think I have the pattern already in my head. Either way, I want to have a lot more variety at the next craft fair, which is on November 20th, not far away. November is a busy month. I am now subbing for maternity leave in a second grade class (I think I may have already mentioned this) and we filled out our calender for the month. We have 5 days off of school this month, plus my boyfriend's birthday is on Wednesday. Lots to do...I'm sure vacation will come sooner than I think with all the activity! I put my updated resume back on Monster and School Spring and I'm keeping my eyes peeled for something in January. Crossing my fingers that the right place will be available.

My First Holiday Plushie Is Here!

It took me several days of short spurts of sewing, but here is my first holiday bear of the season! She has a beautiful green and gold holly pattern and red accents. I did a quick little photo shoot outside today, and surprisingly, she didn't show up very well because she blends in. Who would have thought the indoor pictures would look better. In any case, she's the first of several, and I hope to have several more by the time the craft fair rolls around.

This was the best outdoor one, but I had to do some editing. In other news, I start my long term sub job tomorrow. I went in to shadow her on Monday and I think I'm really going to like working in the room. I'll be planning the lessons myself, so it will be great experience for the future. And I will be looking for another job for January....but at least I have a job through the holidays. What do you have planned?

Bright Pink Kitty is Here!

Here she is! Bright Pink Floral Kitty is the first plushie to be made with my new fabric. She isn't holiday, but she'll be making her debut at my next craft show in November. Can you tell why I love her fabric so much? *peeks around at the page* When I went to the fabric store, I was just looking for holiday fabric. When I came across this, and several other generic fabrics, I couldn't help but yank it into my cart! Instead of going for the soft, cute fabric, this fall/winter I'm going for vibrant, colorful patterns! Don't worry....more to come!

On the employment front, a long term sub position covering a maternity leave opened up in my school. My current position is finished on Friday, but if I get hired for this next sub position, I will be ok until around January. Then I will begin my job hunt again. What a long year this has been! I thought I wouldn't be writing about job searching anymore, but here we are. I am feeling a lot better this week, and I'm glad I had some time to work on sewing. I've got a lot to look forward to next month...my second craft show, my driver's license test *finally!* and a trip to Disney World and Universal (for Harry Potter!!!!). It's going to be exciting, I just hope I can keep up.



You will not believe what happened today....

I got laid off. Again. *sigh*

The position I took last month is a grant funded position, and for some reason, the superintendent has eliminated those positions. Even though they were just added this year. I'm not sure why this happened, but (if I can toot my own horn) I am taking it very well. Especially considering the new car and the vacation we just paid for. Perhaps it's because this year has been so wild. Perhaps it's because I was nervous that I would be let go eventually (since it was just a one year position). Perhaps it's because we've been able to survive that past year with me on worker's comp and unemployment. Or maybe it just hasn't sunk in yet. For whatever reason, I have shed no tears and am not seriously worried.

Tomorrow, I may feel different. But for tonight, I'm ok. 

Regardless, any good thoughts, encouraging anecdotes, or holiday orders *wink!* would be greatly appreciated.  Take care everyone.

Custom Mini Silver Bear

I finished my custom order from the craft fair last week, and here she is! A mini silver bear with a purple bow. Again, this fabric is very tricky to work with and made a huge mess all over my black pants, but well worth the frustration. I bought some new fabric to get myself started on the craft show next month. I have some really fun fabrics to work with, and this time I only bought a yard each, just to see which one will get some interest. I've got a lot of things planned, I just hope I have time to get it done. I'm so tired when I get home from work, but I can pace myself. How are your projects going?



My First Craft Show

Today was my first craft show with my friend Melissa from Sew Sustainable. She makes reusable gift bags, wrapping paper, Trick-or-Treat bags and much more! We shared a table and had a pretty fun day. We got a lot of interest in our products, met some pretty cool people, and even made some sales. I was hoping to sell all my products, but I think that was a lofty goal. Many of the people who stopped by didn't bring cash, so hopefully those who I gave my business cards to will find something on my website that catches their eye.

The event was actually a music festival in celebration of the grand opening of Bowditch Field. My favorite part was the Beatles cover band, although I was hoping that they would play some of the later stuff, but it was mostly early Beatles hits. I made cupcakes for the occasion, my Pumpkin Cupcakes for the occasion. I offered them for $1.50 each, or free with a purchase. I also put out a custom order form, and got two custom orders. I think it was a successful day.

If you haven't checked out Sew Sustainable yet, definitely head on over! She has some really cute seasonal bags available, on top of her regular stock of cute reusable bags. I am ordering a wine gift bag in pink. :)

I apologize for the lack in posts lately. Now that I am working full time, I have very little time to sew. But, now that I have a goal of a future craft show to look forward to, I have a reason to make some new products. I hope that this will push me to do at least one item a weekend, but we'll see how it goes. Until then, Happy Crafting!