TIAM - Summer Sunset Market

Hello! I'm trying something new this week, my first evening market! If you're in the area (Queen/Dufferin) come by and check it out. Looks like a fabulous crowd!

Checking In

Hello!

How's it going? Last summer I took a hiatus from sewing, blogging etc and I am unintentionally doing the same this year. While I have been working on new ideas for products as well as doing a few shows here and there, the blog has definitely been quiet. I figure you can't force these things so I'll just be doing updates here and there. :)

Did a very cool outdoor popup shop with Moneris in June promoting their new device
PAYD Pro which allows you to accept debit transactions!

My hiatus was a forced one as my sewing machine finally started to rebel.
A lovely man came over and whipped her back into shape. Phew!

Spending days off in yarn shops, as you do.

Last Sunday I did a shibori workshop lead by the lovely Arounna of bookhou
in Crown Flora's beautiful new shop space.

My finished pieces--still need to be ironed.

Waiting for the streetcar--it's felt like fall last week!

We had groupons for the Textile Museum and I ogled some looms.

Ogling.

Until the next time!

TEST Springtime Marketplace

Another show this weekend! This time with the Toronto Etsy Street Team. I did their Springtime Marketplace last year and it was my very first craft show! I blogged about it...a lot. :) So excited to participate again and mark one year of craft shows!

Here's a link to the gorgeous lookbook put together by the team leaders: http://issuu.com/thunderpeep/docs/2014_spring_lookbook


There's going to be tons of amazing sellers so if you're in the area, admission is free!

The Post Market

Summer craft show season starts tomorrow! I'll have a table at The Post Market in Leslieville on Saturday and Sunday. Looking forward to a fun weekend!

The Post Market

Lately...

What's up?

It's mid May and it's still cold. We had a week of warmth and then went right back to cold. I feel like we are going to skip spring entirely and just be head first into summer. Which, frankly, I'm ready for!

I've been working hard at some new designs--hopefully they will all be ready to debut at a few shows in the coming weeks! But more about that later. ;)

Onwards to the picture post.

I could spend all day supply shopping.

Feeding chickadees. These guys were super eager!
(Apologies for my blinding hand.)

Beautiful marble patterns.

Finally perfected my packaging game. At least for now...

There was a brief period where I thought I was done with socks.
That time has ended. Welcome back, socks.

New card holders! Among the few prototypes a'comin!

xox

One of a Kind Online Shop

Hi all!

The One of a Kind Show just launched their online shop yesterday and I'm so excited to announce that I'm a part of it!

You can find my profile and shop here.

www.oneofakindonlineshop.com

I've only ever sold online with Etsy so this is a fab opportunity to reach a new audience! It's also been a heck of a learning curve figuring out a totally new interface. Always a good idea to step out of your comfort zone. ;)

Let me know what you think!

BIG Shop Update 1/2

Hello!

It's been a long time since I've posted...even longer since I've updated the shop! But that just means I'm due for a massive update. And here it is in two parts.

www.owlswakeup.etsy.com

Part 1 includes sequins and a new style of leather accented pouches among others. Thanks for looking!

Small Blue Tapestry Pouch

Small Vine-Patterned Pouch

Small Nautical Denim Pouch

Matte Blue Sequin Clutch

Rose Gold Sequin Clutch

Big batch coming soon!

One of a Kind Show - This Week!

Well this is it! The week I've been working towards since January. If you're in Toronto, come check it out!

March 26-30
Etsy Section, K20A

Click here for discounted tickets!

Almost Time!

It terrifies me to think that it's only a few days until load-in day for the One of a Kind Show!

I have gotten a ton of work done in the past few months and I do feel like I am ready. Still a lot of little things to do like finishing up the display, price tagging, packing, meal planning and the like but I know that I'll blink and the show will be over so I'm trying to enjoy every step along the way. 

For now, here are some fun pics of the stuff that will be at the show!

Longing for Spring

With the winter Olympics over (GO CANADA!) and a tease of a warmish weekend, I can't help but start looking to the florals and pastels, longing for spring for real.

Here are some of my favourite things recently.

1. In Bloom by littlelow

2. Harriet Scarf by Leah Duncan

3. Printed Canvas Oxfords by Gap (Sold out in my size, obviously)

4. Small Storage Box by bookhou

5. Garden Buzz Cup by Michelle Morin for Anthropologie

Prepping for One of a Kind is still going strong although I think I might be pushing myself too hard. Last night I took it easy, went to bed early and I am going to do what I can to stay on schedule. The next few weeks are going to be busy so if I fall behind for a couple days that's okay.

What's Happening?

As predicted, with OOAK around the corner (42 days ahhhh) the poor blog gets neglected because I've been too busy getting all my ducks in a row. I'm very glad I took a week in January to just think about it.

What will my display look like? What's my budget? What about packaging? How much should I make? What should I make? Should I use a new sign? Should I get new business cards? (Yes and yes.) What do I do about bringing my own seating? Who can I enlist to help me out?

You get the idea. A lot of thinking.

Once I got my inventory plan sorted and initial supplies purchased (round two happening this weekend!) then I really got to work. My goal was to leave weekends free for friends, supply shopping, business card designing etc. The reason for this is that I am notorious for wasting weeknights and now is the time to change. I will totally go home, change into pjs and just eat and watch TV all night. Especially in the winter because when I come home it's dark and I'm tired so there. But with OOAK looming I knew I had to get my act together so my plan became: only sew on weeknights. And it's working! I am making my weekly goals no problem by dedicating a couple hours a night to sewing. It's been tiring still, yes, but it's really working out so far.

Week 1: complete.

Week 2: cutting day.

Week 3: a mishmash of stuff.

I am in the middle of week 3 of my 8 weeks of sewing (leaving the last week of for moving in, grocery shopping, etc) and so far I don't feel stressed at all (knock on wood)! I went to an information session for OOAK back in October before I applied and people asked how much inventory to bring. Of course there is no set number. The organizers just said "make as much as you can" and that's exactly what I'm doing. That's all I can do!

So with my business cards ordered, a display plan in place, my inventory well on its way, I am feeling pretty great about the whole thing.

More updates to come!

Supply Shopping - Getting Started

Last weekend I spent a full day travelling around the city hunting down sewing supplies for One of a Kind. It was a ton of fun!! Then, however, I turned my sewing plans into weekly goals and officially freaked myself out. There is lots to do in the next two months! Anyways--this is the first of several picture posts!

Waiting at the cash while the ladies sort through my zippers...

Seems like enough, right? Haha no.

Guhhhhh.

As soon as I bought this I knew I would have to go back for more.

Got a great deal on this gorgeous floral tapestry!

My first big leather purchase and I couldn't be more excited!

Big News!

Last October I went to an information session regarding the Etsy section for the spring 2014 One of a Kind Show. I applied shortly after thinking, why the heck not? Last week I found out that I got in!!!

Participating in this show has always been a total dream so I am blown away that it's going to happen in just a couple months!

The spring show runs in Toronto from March 26-30. I sent in my contract this week and am up to my ears in planning preparations! Needless to say, I have never done anything on this scale. Since I am taking part in the Etsy section I will have a table as opposed to a booth, which is more up my alley at the moment! I have no idea how much stock to make but I do know that I have to get cracking.

I am afraid my posting here will suffer (as if it hasn't already!) but I will do my best to take as many pictures as I can of my preparations so I can post updates!

SO excited!!

Craft Show Table Displays

Last season I spent a lot of time obsessing over my craft show displays. I thought I was satisfied with my display for my summer show--at the time it was nice, but the more I thought about it, the more unhappy I was. Isn't that always the way with something you create? Once you get some distance you really start seeing the flaws.

- It wasn't shopable: patterns and clutches were just piled on or stuffed in baskets. It looked like STUFF. Not like a display.

- There was no vertical interest: This one I gave myself an out. I was on a budget, and a public transit taker. I had to keep it to a minimum so despite my constant Pinteresting, I just gave up on that one. You know when you're afraid to look into something in case it fails? Yep.

- Blah-ness. Everything kinda melded into one. Nothing about the display stood out. Sure it was cohesive but it has to be exciting as well!

So for my first show last season I made some changes: new styles (More sequins! South American fabrics! Leather!) and a new table cloth to complement these styles. That's about all I changed.

What I found was that if people looked over at my table, they came over and rummaged. However, a lot of people didn't even notice me! I knew then and there to stop mucking around and create a vertical display. To stop piling on all the stuff (but I've made SO MUCH) and focus on showcasing the quality of the items instead of having a table that says "look how much crap I made!"

So. Everything changed. Different baskets. I made display boards. I left things at home (GASP). For the first time I was truly happy with my display! The best part? It worked!

Testing out the display at home.

Vertical interest!

Last-minute button earrings. Seriously, I made these the day before a show.

The final display. So much happier with it!

A close up.

So of course, even though only a month has passed, I am now dreaming up ways to change my display for the next round. I want to expand on the shelving idea. The boards are just fabric-covered foam so I know they won't last me forever. But that's what sketchbooks are for, right? Planning!

Thanks for reading!

DIY Easy Knit Turban Headband

I've been making a lot of headbands lately. I made a bunch as Christmas gifts but then never really stopped! They're just so fun! I had been seeing this style of headband around and thought, "I could make that!"

This is an insanely easy pattern. Spoiler alert! It's stockinette stitch with one cable. It follows a simple formula so whatever yarn or needles you want to use, you can easily amend the instructions.

Here's what I used for mine:

Yarn: Bernat Roving (surprised?) in Plum
Needles: US 13

CO 14

Row 1: P1, K12, P1
Row 2: K1, P12, K1

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until you are halfway done your headband.

Best practice is to measure your head first and divide the number by two. For example, I make my headbands 18 inches long so when I got to 9 inches I stopped. (Make sure to stop when you've finished a purling row so you're ready to cable.)

Cable Row 1: P1, cable 12 forward (slip 6 stitches onto your cable needle and hold in front, K6, K6 off your cable needle), P1
Cable Row 2: K1, P12, K1

Continue repeating the original rows 1 and 2 until the headband is long enough to fit comfortably around your head.

Bind off.

Use a yarn needle to seam the ends and weave in the tails.

HOW TO ADAPT IT:

This pattern is easily adaptable so you are free to make this whatever width with whatever yarn you want. It might take a few false starts to get the width right (this pattern took me 3!) but this is such a quick knit it's worth the extra time to make sure it's perfect!

Always cast on an even number of stitches. Subtract 2 for the knit edges and divide that number in 2 for your cable row. For example for thinner yarn:

CO 20

Row 1: P1, K18, P1
Row 2: K1, P18, K1

Cable Row 1: P1, cable 18 forward (slip 9 stitches onto your cable needle and hold in front, K9, K9 off your cable needle) P1
Cable Row 2: K1, P18, K1

Or if you have really thick yarn on really fat needles:

CO 8

Row 1: P1, K6, P1
Row 2: K1, P6, K1

Cable Row 1: P1, cable 6 forward (slip 3 stitches onto your cable needle and hold in front, K3, K3 off your cable needle) P1
Cable Row 2: K1, P6, K1

You get the idea! Any questions, leave a comment below.

Thanks for reading!

New Year's Resolutions

Happy New Year!

 

I have a few non-businessy resolutions I'd like to share, although truthfully I started on them early because there's no time like the present!

 

I love going on walks. I don't know what I would do without my lunchtime walk with coworkers down our lovely nature trail. However, I don't explore my own goregous neighbourhood as much as I would like. That must change.

I can never decide if I hate cooking or love it. I should love it, since it's creative and productive and involves food. I think it's just extreme laziness that holds me back. I'll need to come up with a strategy to keep me on the wagon with this goal!

I used to read like a maniac but ever since starting to work full-time a few years ago, it's been a struggle to keep up with my growing book piles. I still enjoy reading, of course, but need some motivation to keep at it. So I'm going to do the 50-book challenge for 2014!

I firmly believe there can never be enough hobbies. This year I am going to take advantage of the awesome, crafty city I live in and take as many courses as possible. Screen printing, knitting, drawing, sewing. I'll take them all. Again, it's the concrete motivation that you need sometimes!

I used to be 100% music focused. Playing all the instruments, writing, recording...but now I am so out of touch with this aspect of myself and 2014 is going to turn that around. Because I miss it!

Do you have any resolutions?