Meow!

By the time I was finished stuffing and stitching these little cat toys, I was about ready to roll around on the ground and act silly myself. Okay, I am exagerating a little, but the organic catnip (from Natural Earth Oils) is really potent! I had to put them in their own container, otherwise all my stuff would end up smelling like catnip.

The cat toys are among the many items I will be selling at Handmade for the Holidays in Oshkosh on 11/17 which is put on by Michelle of Dainty Daisies. The show is only 2 weeks away... where did the time go!

Wristlets!

Yay! I wanted to get at least a few wristlets together to see what the final look would be, and I accomplished at least that much. I used a couple of found images that seemed condusive to a wristlet shape and printed them on the front side and then the back is a fun patterned fabric. This picture has an effect applied to it from rollip.com - the effects make everything look just a bit cooler (I think these wristlets are cool as is, but the effect turns them up to an 11).

Prints...Camera...Wristlet! (and cat toys)

It's always a treat when the items that you have been putting together in your brain com together in real life. I guess I would say it's half of a treat at this point as I have my current projects printed and have been doing lots-o-cutting, but I am still in the process of assembling.

What you are looking at in the photo above, besides my awesome franken-mug of coffee is the fronts of my new wristlets (cameras and larger stereos) and the fronts of my new kitty toys (lobsters, moonshine jugs and small stereos). The backs are going to be some funky coordinating material.

I was hoping to have one assembled by time I was ambitious enough to write this, but alas, I am more in the mood to type tonight than sew, so this is all I have to SHOW for now.

What?   Did somebody say "show"? Speaking of that, I have a couple of Holiday shows I am looking forward to. On Sat 11/17 there is the Handmade for the Holidays show in Oshkosh from 10-4 and then on 12/15 there is the Holiday Craftacular from 10-4 in Madison, WI.

MAUK RULZ!

I was trying to think of something fun for a goodie bag stuffer for the annual Summer Craftacular in Madison, WI tomorrow and then it came to me - decals - hmm... and how would my decals look?
Answer: self indulging of course ;)

I would like to thank my former employer for letting me use their "laser" to cut them out. How is it after 7 years of using a "laser" that  saying "laser" like Dr. Evil never gets old? (Thus the quotation marks)

The photos below are of a custom wristlet that I made for a friend as a wedding shower gift. She had a bunch of photos of her and her fiance posted on face book that were soooo cute that I was inspired to pick one and make her a wristlet.

Let's Here it for the Boys er.. or Guys!

As I had mentioned in an earlier post I bought a Yudu screenprinter and a large assortment of shirts and was working on a few shirt designs. I was happy to finally get my "Old Fashioned Guy" shirt printed. So far I have three designs and many more ideas "rolling around upstairs" (aka in my head).

In addition to getting the remainder of my shirts printed, I finally finished the batch of clothespin bags I started back in March (there are actually twice as many, but some are on consignment). My favorite part is turning them right-side-out and seeing how there faces and ears turned out - it's like they all have there own personality - and if you don't think I'm dorky enough for saying that, I also give each one a name on their price tags.

It was actually the Summer Craftacular that motivated me to get my stuff done. When I signed up it was months away and now it's only two weeks. It's a great show with a lot of talented people and if you happen to be in Madison, WI of 7/29, you really should stop in!

Everybody I know will be getting t-shirts...

because I bought a bunch of t-shirts so I could play with my Yudu screenprinter.

Here are a couple of my new designs:

A homage to Wisconsin's (or at least my) beverage of choice - I am going to make a few adjustments to the artwork then make the "guy" version

This is my "affirma-tee". The idea has been rolling around my head for some time and I was happy to finally do it. If you are wondering whey the message is backwards it's because I want the wearer to be reminded that they deserve more every time they look in the mirror (okay, I'm easily amused)

A fan of Mauk asked me to make her a new purse. Her parameters were owls, pockets and purple. It was a good excuse to come up with a new design - this one's called the Tracie POP! (POP is for plenty of pockets as there are 2 pockets on each side of the outside, 2 more divided pockets on the inside, plus there is a divider in the purse that is actually a zippered pocket).

Yudu not know how excited I am...

It has been more than a year since I laid my eyes on a Yudu screenprinting machine and trying to be practical, I have held off, knowing that I did not have the time for it. I told myself after New Year's, I would look into it and with great luck, I found one on Craigslist - yeah!

I have a couple of sewing projects to get done before I get too carried away, but not being able to leave my new toy alone, I had to at least play with it a little bit...

It's not bragging if it's true right ?