More hobbit birthday purchases!

I have been looking for something special for my mom to give to her on my birthday. She gave birth to me, I thought I could give her something relaxing. I'm trying to purchase all of my Hobbit birthday presents to distribute on my birthday on Etsy.

Today I went to the front page of Etsy and stumbled upon the featured seller: SweetPetula. She makes bath and body items from scratch! Perfect! My mother loves to take baths and hardly ever does. I want her to pamper herself more, as she owes it to herself. I purchased bath fizzies in three different scents:



I purchased "Mediterranean Mint", "Provence" and "Sweet P." I think it's the perfect gift for my mom!

Okay, I have to sew the remaining of my January 10 items and list them by tomorrow. Time to get cracking!

♥ ♥ ♥
I am having a Twitter/Blog sale this weekend! Free shipping on all purchases, enter "twitter" or "blog" in the notes to seller box at check out, and I will send a revised invoice! Click here to check out my shop!

<3 always,
--Taina

Happy Mother's Day!

I did it! I made a reversible tote bag for my mom! 4 hours of carefully ironing, cutting, stitching and trimming, I made a bag.

I'm so stoked, as I sketched out the pattern myself last week.

Now, it doesn't have a pocket, and I was going to spend the next 45 mins writing more and uploading photos before work...but...

I decided to make a little matching coin purse with a D-ring strap so she can find her keys and cellphone easily.

I will take photos later and post them tonight or tomorrow. =)

Happy Mother's Day to all of you with kids and your mothers!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Gifties...

I haven't been making anything new for my shop in the last few days due to lots of birthdays coming up.



I try to make as many of my gifts as possible. Saturday is my Aunt's birthday, she's an avid birdwatcher, so I made her a stuffed owl. I got some great reactions from coworkers when I brought it took work to ship it yesterday, so I will probably be making more for my shop.



I LOVE working with fleece! No wonder so many people out there like making stuffies and plushies! The fabric hides the tiny hand-stitched seam where the product is stuffed, and it immediately looks professional, as the edges don't fray. So cool!

I definitely want to make more.

I've also been making stuffed animals out of used gloves. My friend Chris likes bears, so I made him a little green bear out of a pair of gloves as a belated bday present. It's funny looking, as it's my first try, but I know he'll love it.

Hopefully this weekend I will be back to making things for Etsy. I want to get back in there!



<3 Always,
--Taina

Forgetful...

Sometimes I forget how old I am and try to stay out as late as I used to. That was definitely the case last night, I got home after 3am (3:30? 4?) and am feeling every bit of that today. ::wince!::

Jenny's Leap Year party was fun. She loved the jar of gummy frogs I brought as my guest gift. I made 4 origami jumping frogs for her to put in the jar when the gummy frogs were done and everyone loved the idea. The gummies went VERY quickly. =)


(Click photo for more info)

I'm so behind on some parts of technology! Etsy started posting video podcasts and audio podcasts and I can't for the life of me figure out how to download them and put them onto my mp3 player! Okay, really, that's the only part of me that's behind. Just the podcasts. I guess that's not so bad. If anyone who reads this has suggestions, please let me know!

Yesterday I sewed my fingers off, watched 3 episodes of Season 2 of "Big Love" and swooned over SweetestPea's monster made out of recycled men's clothing on Martha. I just recently bought a rice ball from her for a friend of mine. I hope I get it today!

I still ended up one or two behind my Etsy quota. That's fine, I will make those before working on March's 20. My fabric didn't come yesterday either. Sigh! I didn't REALLY expect it to, since it was only 4 days after the prints were shipped, I was just really hopeful. I DID get another card from my handmade penpal TheSeaWithin! I love her! I get things from her every other day. I want to find fun objects to send her along with my handmade cards/envelopes.

Speaking of TheSeaWithin, check out my new makeup bag:

(click photo for more info)
The fabric is named "Caribe" which I think is so cool since that's actually my brother's name. The color palette really does resemble like the Caribbean Ocean.

I really want to make clutches, if my migraine ever goes away today, I am going to cut fabric and attempt to make one today. Migraines make me sad. I know I should rest but I should also do laundry, tidy my apartment, finally put together my dresser. I'm trying to work through it, but I don't know if that will really work.

I'm off to take more excedrine and see if I can get up out of bed!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Happy New Year!!!

Happy New Year, Bloggers!

I was side-tracked with my fulltime job, putting in extra hours, holiday chaos on the homefront, family obligations, the works! Then I battled being super sick for 10 days. But...

I'm back (and hopefully better than ever!)

I sold my first item of 2008 a couple weeks ago. It was to a new Etsy user, her first purchase. She sent me a really sweet convo (short for conversation or private message on Etsy) saying she was thrilled with the makeup bag. It was this one:



I get so excited when people leave me feedback or go out of their way to send me a 'thank you' note!

This year I've listed 3 things and in the process of listing my fourth. I'm a little behind schedule, as I am aiming for listing twenty new items each month. I have set a goal of 5 completed items before bed tonight. We shall see! Thankfully, all the fabric is cut already.

Just because I haven't been listing things as often as usual doesn't mean I haven't been making things by hand. I've actually been quite busy!

I made my friend Dorian a squid coin purse, since she's obsessed with squid. I also made her earrings out of scrabble tiles: D & V for her initials, that she loved. I've been working on a knit tie for my dad, made out of a silk/wool blend yarn, on tiny size 1 circular needles. I only have a few more inches to go, then I have to block it and line it. He has no idea I'm making it for him.

I also have been switching it up, I'm working on a headband for myself, based on the Calorimetry pattern from Knitty's Winter 2006. I made one before and loved it until one day it went missing. It's great for covering my ears and not messing up my hair in winter weather.

My computer is about 6.5 years old now. It's super slow, so uploading photos takes a bit longer than I'd like. My Etsy goal is to buy a fancy new laptop w/ my 2008 sales. I should probably start backing up all of my files now, though, in case it spontaneously combusts. le sigh!

Here's to a new year, and hopefully some great sales, good etsy friends, and keeping it Handmade!

With <3,
--Taina

The "Buy Handmade" Pledge

I absolutely love the idea of making and buying handmade gifts for people. Handmade items form this connection between creator and user. I love buying handmade things for a number of reasons:

1. I love getting things other than bills in the mail.
2. I like seeing how sellers package their items.
3. I like holding a handmade object in my hand and looking it over, imagining all of the work.
4. I love the idea of supporting fair wages for artisans, and what better way than knowing you are paying the price the artisan themselves has decided their work is worth?
5. I like unique things.

So this year, Etsy started the "Buy Handmade" Pledge. It says you will buy handmade goods as gifts and would appreciate it if others did the same for you.

So I was lucky enough this year to work my first craft fair. I made tons of things in anticipation and sewed and knit until my arms felt like they would fall off. The fair was Artists & Fleas in Williamsburg. I attended on Nov. 18th. The crowd was much more of a looking crowd than a buying crowd, so I have TONS of things to list on my Etsy Shop.

Since I have so many things to list and am currently ahead of the game, I am going to take my new-found spare time and make things as gifts for family members.

So far, I am:

1. knitting a tie for my dad.
2. knitting convertible mittens for my mom.
3. making a little bird pouch for my bird-watching Aunt Gailey.
4. making a scrabble bracelet for my Aunt Sally.
5. knitting an apple hat for my cousin's baby.
6. baking 12 tins worth of white chocolate cranberry cookies for my extended family.

My brother is not getting anything handmade by me this year. I was thinking of knitting him a pair of convertible mittens, but I'm terrified he will lose them and I will be heartbroken. I think I will purchase something handmade for him instead.

My handmade purchases will include:

1. Vegan soaps from DistilledRose for my parents.
2. Either a t-shirt or hoodie from 1Aeon for my brother.
3. something from Lollibomb for my Aunt Millie. She definitely deserves to be pampered.