Inch by Inch, Row by Row...

A month and a half ago, I posted photos of what I was hoping would be my little kitchen-window garden? Well, most if it is still just dirt.

I have managed to somehow grow and kill 8 tiny 1/2" oregano plants and four 2" cherry tomato seedlings. Only two basil seeds sprouted out of the packet I planted, but neither have died...yet! I have one little tomato plant that seems to be trying it's hardest to stay alive. I may have to suck it up and go out and actually buy seedlings instead of trying to do this from seeds.


(the red arrow is pointing at the one lonely cherry tomato seedling.)

I wonder if my community garden leader reads my blog. I've been waiting for my replacement key for 8 days now and it still hasn't come. I'm in the mood for some composting action! I wonder if it's because she knows I have a brown thumb when it comes to herb growing and is very afraid. lol.

My potted dafodils? Still alive and kicking, as are my bamboo plants, aloe plant, calanchoes. Herbs just don't like me!

Also, I seem to be stuck on 220 sales. I was hoping to hit 225 by the end of March, but that's a mere two days away. We shall see. I plan on coming home after work today and sewing a ton. Migraines and a pulled back muscle set me back quite a bit this past week. We shall see! I'd love to have 65 items in my shop by April 1st.

Below is my 60th item, I listed it yesterday. I love it because both sides are similar but different color schemes. If you click the photos you will see the listing and note that the bottom of each fabric actually matches up!


(click photos for more info!)



In other (exciting!) news? Operation Dreamseed found me! On Friday I was contacted by one of the people on the Board, asking if it was okay to send my shop's link out to her friends, and yesterday the Exec. Director contacted me asking the same thing. I wrote both of them back saying I'd love to extend my donations through the month of April, since March is almost over if they want to spread the word.

Apparently the Exec. Director found me through this blog! Hooray! I should e-mail my marketing instructor to let her know. It would be awesome if I could sell a few more things and make a larger donation to Operation Dreamseed. I love the idea of purchasing school supplies and sending them out myself, but I think the money would go further if the organization purchased the supplies, since they are tax exempt.

<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

It's grey outside...

It's a rainy day here in NYC, making me slow-going this morning when I should be at work in an hour.

I'm excited, I sold four items by Feb. 4th this month. No sales yesterday, but it kept the momentum going to continue to make and list things and aim for my 20 items in Feb goal. I made items 3 and 4.

Item #3 is perfect for today's listing:


(As always, click the photo for more info!)

Have a great day, blog friends!

<3 Always,
--Taina

Rainy day off...

It's been pouring nonstop since at least 8am. It's now 5:30pm EST. I had plans to go to Target for OJ, bread, yogurt, and a few other essentials that are much cheaper than my supermarket sells them. Afterwards, I was going to go down past Chinatown to purchase more zippers. I woke up to the sound of rain and wind beating down on my window and decided that I'd rather stay in bed for a few more hours.

I purchased zippers at wholesale prices online. From the same family-owned business I was planning on purchasing from all the way downtown, no worries!

SEVENTY-SEVEN zippers! Intense! I bought black, white, yellow, green, blue, red, and pink zippers in various sizes.



Jeff from ZipperStop contacted me to say the zippers would be in the mail this afternoon. What service! He also said I should check out the store and gave the hours. I've only purchased from them online. He says the store is actually a three floor building. I have a feeling I'd spend TONS in the actual shop.

I stayed in bed, caught up on the first episode of this season's "Lost" (I watched the Democratic Debate last night, which aired the same time as Lost), and photographed items 19 and 20 of January, and 1/20 of February.

I decided I should stay in and do handmade things. I mixed the ingredients for cornbread, placed it in the oven, set the timer and...voila! I completely forgot about it and burned it! eek. I will eat it anyway. It's not black, just a bit more brown than I'd like.

Tonight? I am making more peppermint bark and a makeup bag for my cousin's wife, who's 40th b-day is tomorrow. I was thinking of making one out of the same indigo fabric as the coin purse I just listed today. My parents will bring it to her when they go to her party without me. I am working the Family Festival at MoMA tomorrow, reading kids books of my choosing.



Oh, I got paid yesterday! So I have a few bucks to spend on Etsy. I was thinking about purchasing a fun handmade v-day card for my penpal. I've been searching for a little while now. I should check my mail and see if I received anything fun today.

<3 Always,
--Taina

Sewing my heart out.

It's 8am, I have to be at work at 10:30 today. I'm so nervous about meeting my goal of 20 items this month! I am charging my camera batteries so I can take photos of my latest items. I have a minute or two to write an entry.

Yesterday at work, all I could think about was coming home and sewing. I really wanted to sell more items this month, as I'd liked to have donated more to Doctors Without Borders. With mass media finally mentioning the recession the U.S. has been in for quite a while, sales have slowed practically everywhere. Even my place of work is dead.

Maybe February will be better. I am also optimistic about my Marketing class that starts next Wednesday.

I'm getting better at promoting, I think. I now update my shop's MySpace account regularly with new photos of items as I list them on Etsy. I also post the occasional bulletin for all of my MySpace friends to see when I list an item I particularly like. Of course, I have business cards, rubber stamps with my web address/e-mail address, I send personalized 'thank you' cards with every purchase. My Etsy mini is on both of my myspace accounts, personal and business. It features my top featured items and updates instantly if I change around my favorites in my shop. It's a pretty cool feature.

Last night I made four items and listed one I made the previous day. To date? I've made 16 items this month. If I can make 4 more tonight, I will be set.

I wish it wasn't so dark and rainy outside, my photos won't be as good as I really want them to be, even with photoshop adjusting the light/brightness.

Here's the coin purse I listed last night:


(Click the photo for more info.)

Okay, batteries are charged! I love my speed charger!

<3 Always,
--Taina

What a crazy crazy day...

Today while I was at work, a contractor fell, broke his neck and died.

I was so spacey and distraught that I somehow lost my cellphone. I don't have a landline, so now not only am I really upset about the loss of this guy, but feeling quite anxious and naked without my cellphone. My mother is undergoing a series of neurological tests, so I would like to be her emergency contact if she starts really worrying. She's more worried about the tests than the results at this point. I am worried about her because I don't have a phone tonight. I am so thankful I have a roommate! I used her phone to tell my dad I'd lost my phone and if there is an emergency, to call Federica. My mom was sleeping, as I'm sure it's been an exhausting day. Today was her MRI and some other test with initials.

Tomorrow I will call Lost & Found to see if they have it, and if not, I have to buy a new one. I'm not thrilled about this, as I was hoping the money I had saved up so far from Etsy would go towards a laptop, not a replacement cellphone.

I really hope they have my phone when I call tomorrow morning.

In other news? I got my internet up and running and better than ever, so here is the 6th item I have listed in January:


A tattoo makeup/pencil case! Hooray!Like always, click the photo for info on the item.

I was hoping to come home and make things tonight, but after spending an hour turning my entire work world upside down looking for my phone, I'm completely exhausted and probably should not be operating a sewing machine. Tomorrow! Tomorrow I will make a bunch of things. I have 7 days left to make 14 items. We'll see if I can do it!

<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