How do I ship this?

I am so glad I have today off, even though I would have gotten overtime pay for working it. It's rainy and cold outside, which makes it a perfect day to stay in and figure out how I will be shipping the massive makeup bag that was custom ordered. Seriously, it's huge. 20" across, 16" tall, with a 6" gusset? It's taking me forever, as I am triple-stitching everything.

The problem is that it's so sturdy that I don't know how it will fit in an envelope or box. I will be taking it to the P.O. tomorrow to see if they have any suggestions. I also want to make sure I know exactly how much my buyer will be paying for shipping. I really hope it's not terribly expensive. The normal size makeup bags I sell only cost $4 to ship overseas, and that's including the padded envelope that's made of recycled fibers and tissue paper. Because I won't be able to fold the bag in half, I will have to ship it flat in a gigantic envelope. Do they even make envelopes larger than 16x20? I'm nervous.

I washed all of my new fabric when I reorganized everything yesterday. I'm excited with the fabric I bought at Mood. I made a coin purse out of it late last night:


(Click photo for more info)

Well, I'm off to try to figure out this bag and make some more things. I haven't counted how many items I've made for Etsy this month yet, but I have a feeling I may be behind schedule. Here's to my goal of 20 again! So glad I have this week off!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Hooray for Organization!

Well dearies, I'm much more organized in my crafting area!

Yesterday I bought more plastic containers with lids and organized all of my fabrics by type (fun prints, everyday prints, interfacing, lining fabrics). I also decided to use one of my big glass jars for holding thread. It's clear and really pretty as you can see all of the colors. I even organized my notions into smaller containers! Totally exciting.

This morning I awoke to find I've already sold my pink bird makeup bag I listed yesterday. Hooray for sales!

I've been trying to be more organized this year, as it will make next year's taxes even easier on me. Etsy's dedicated part of it's website to "The Storque", where you can find all sorts of news, updates, videos and more. Well guess what I found? A pre-made Seller Worksheet!

I just spent the last hour customizing it to my needs. I needed a column for Charity percentages and I also wanted to include the sum of gross sales each month. And now I'm all done with January and February (thus far). Everytime I make a sale, I will just enter it into the spreadsheet and away we go!

So I listed another umbrella coin purse today:


(Click photo for more info.)

And now I'm off to water my plants, straighten up the livingroom and get ready for my friend Dorian (and maybe her girlfriend) to come over for brunch.

Speaking of plants, here are photos of my kitchen window, from left to right:








OMG, I just sold something else in the time it took to write this blog! One of my zoo pillows! How awesome! Today is a great day.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Is it worth it?

This morning I received an e-mail from Renegade saying they are accepting applications for the fair in Brooklyn. It's a juried fair, so I'm not even sure if I'd be selected if I applied. There's a $10 non-refundable jurying fee and it costs $200 for the application. If you are accepted, that's all you have to pay, if not, they send back the $200. THEN, there's also the tent/table/chair rental. The website hasn't been updated with the costs yet. I would also have to decorate the space, make a sign, etc. That's a good deal of cash if nothing sells in the two days.

Decisions, decisions. I just contacted FortCloudy to find out what her experience was if she did it and if she'd be applying this year.

I woke up early this morning, ready to take photos of my kitchen windowsil as well as the two items I made last night and my batteries were dead! I have a charger with 4 rechargeable AA's and usually just rotate them so I always have two charged, but somehow slacked this time. I will have to write another post about the seedlings.

Today? Target w/ my mom. Their plastic containers are on sale and I need to organize all of my stained glass and tools. I'm also in need of another under-bed storage container for my handmade things, I've been making TONS of stuff! Speaking of which, I can finally finish the custom order for the matching small and large makeup bags today.

I'm so excited about making my first clutch. Maybe tomorrow.

Here's my latest makeup bag:

(Click photo for listing info)

I LOVE the pink birds. I bought fat quarters of this fabric from CheapThreads and fell in love. I may have to make something for myself for Spring. I also love how the zippers I purchased match the bird tails perfectly.

Okay, I'm off to Target. Later, gators!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Deep Sigh...

So many exciting things happened today! While waiting in the Dr's office, I thought I'd have enough time to post again via cellphone, but no such luck.



First, I don't have emphysema! My lungs seem fine, it may just be my allergy induced asthma. My doc wants me to monitor my breathing and heart with and without the inhaler while I'm in Capoeira class, which I hope to start up again next month. But lots of tests were done and things are looking up! I got my 2nd HPV vaccine, my right arm is still sore, 7 hours later. Because I have this dull ache in my upper arm, I decided to treat myself to something fun today.

I went on a search for heavy-duty fusible interfacing for the incredibly large makeup bag custom order I am supposed to be making which proved harder than expected for a city that has it's very own fabric district.

I finally went to Mood Fabrics which was featured on this last season of Project Runway. I called ahead to see if they had heavy-duty fusible interfacing and the very friendly girl who answered the phone said yes. Well, lo & behold, they did NOT have the interfacing I needed. le sigh.

I did find some super cute blue lining fabric as well as a really cool floral print on a white background. I bought a yard of each and while standing in line to pay, I impulsively bought a few more spools of thread. $30 later and I was out the door continuing my search for fusible interfacing.

I walked over to 38th St. in search of this fabric store an employee recommended, didn't find it, but found this great trimmings/zipper/webbing/snaps/buttons store. Okay, I could have just called it "notions." They didn't have white interfacing, but did have black, which will be fine since the bag is B&W. I also bought 4 magnetic snaps because I want to expand my sewing line and add clutches. I'm super stoked!

After fabric/interfacing shopping, I went to Home Depot as I'd gotten a gift card for redeeming my credit card points.



In my attempt at becoming more "green", I have been looking for CFL's (Compact Florescent Lightbulbs) for the remaining light fixture that has not been switched over to energy saving bulbs. This is because it's the living room and on a dimmer switch. Not many people realize that a dimmer switch saves no electricity on normal CFL's, they have to be the dimmable kind. Home Depot doesn't carry anything past the equiv. of 15 Watt. That stinks because I need 60 or 75 for my livingroom. Since I had a card burning in my pocket, I decided to pick up some more eco-friendly cleaners by Method. I bought hand soap and dish soap since my roommate and I are quickly running out. I also bought my mom the tub/tile cleaner since she couldn't find it at Target.

I love the eco-friendly cleaners because a) they are biodegradeable/reuseable/compostible and b) I have horrific allergies to run-of-the-mill household cleaners. The eco friendly ones are also comparable in price, if not cheaper. I can breathe easy cleaning and knowing I'm leaving less of a footprint on the earth.

Because I still had money left on my card and was on a "green" kick, I decided it was time to finally buy a big bag of soil. I was a key-carrying member of my Community Garden until my keys were stolen. Since it's Winter, it's quite hard to find a time when the president of the garden is there to get a new copy. I would normally just go pick up some compost for free. I bought soil, seeds and biodegradeable seedling pots made from plants.

I came home and repotted my aloe plant, inhaled the gorgeous scent of my paperwhites that are in bloom in my kitchen and planted my remaining bulbs as well as organic tomato, oregano and sweet basil seeds. We'll see if anything grows. Photos will be posted tomorrow, as it's dark.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Friday Morning Ritual

Today starts my first day of my 9 day vacation in NYC. I was hoping to get out of the city but I have class in the middle of the week.

I think I am coming down with a bit of a cold, at least I hope that's all it is. I'm going to the Dr. at noon today. I have this terrible fear of feeling under the weather on Friday, getting really sick on Saturday and waiting until Monday to see the Dr. People in large U.S. cities know that you don't go to the Emergency Room unless you are near death, because odds are you will die waiting terribly long to be seen. (Violent crimes and horrible near-death accidents are first, strept is way at the bottom of the list.)

After the doc I have to hunt down some heavy duty interfacing. I've never found it in NYC before, only the medium stuff, but it won't do for the very large makeup bag I have a custom order for. I usually order online but don't want to wait for it.

I had Valentine's plans to go to Blockheads for strawberry margaritas and mexican food w/ two of my friends/coworkers but one of them was really sick yesterday so plans were postponed. Le sigh.

So...Friday Morning Ritual? First? I photograph and list the item I made on Thurs. night. Second? I pay all of my bills online and figure out how much I have left after being paid. Third? I balance my Etsy Paypal acct. and transfer my actual earnings to my bank account.

This is how it works for my Etsy shop:
Listing Fees now are .20 for each of the month's 20 items = 4.00.
Etsy transaction fees once something sells = 3.5% of selling price
15% of selling price of each item - charity of the month
Paypal fees = 5% of each transaction.
Remaining? Goes to my savings account for my education fund.

I use money I make from my fulltime job to purchase supplies. I like the idea of my fulltime job investing in my education.

So this morning? I'm listing another turquoise sugar skull coin purse. It's one of my best sellers and I absolutely love the fabric!



Okay, I'm off to knit and catch up on the latest episode of Lost. Happy weekend, everyone!

<3 Always,
--Taina