Christmas is Coming!?!

Whether we like it or not! So I made some cute Christmasy bibs to get in the spirit!


I also just finished up a fabulous custom order - these were SO fun to make! Thanks Molly for picking such fun fabrics!

In other news, I've been having some sewing machine troubles. My dear sweet Beatrice (my Kenmore sewing machine) fell ill and I had to borrow my friend Sarah's brand new Brother machine. It sews GREAT but it took me a few hours of swearing at it before I figured it out. They did NOT make those very user friendly! So special thanks to Sarah for saving my little sewing butt!

If you have a chance to peek at my Etsy shop you'll see that I've been adding lots of new bibs lately. I finished about 18 bibs this weekend - many of them are horse bibs and I even did a couple just for the little cowboys in the group! As usual if there is anything you'd like to see, let me know! I'm working on a robot applique for the boys, and I have a new flower one that I think will be really cute.

Have a great day!
jesi

Horse Bibs & Horse Bibs and

when you're done with THAT... how about a few more HORSE BIBS???

Why so many horse bibs, you might ask? I am SO excited to tell you that I got an e-mail last week asking if I'd like to have one of my bibs featured in the November Holiday Gift Guide in a magazine called equestrian which is the publication of the United States Equestrian Federation. HOLY COW!! I'm so excited!

But, as the person who contacted me noted, I might want to make a few more bibs. See, they send out 90,000 copies. Now I'm not great at math, but if just a teeny tiny percentage of the people who get the magazine actually would like a bib... I'm in big trouble! Currently I'm training my 20 month old daughter to applique and we're going to start our own sweatshop in the living room. ;)

Here are just a few of the bibs I've been making:

I've also had to (darn it!) buy more fabric!! I really love buying fabric from fellow Etsians - my two favorite stores are fabricpalooza and Acme Baby Co.

Despite my less-than-stellar first craft show experience, I have decided to do a couple more of them that are a little more selective and I think will be more my crowd.

November 13
Girls Night Out • Boulder, CO • www.BoulderParenting.com
Girls Night Out does have a $25/$30 admission fee, but it's all tax deductible and for a great cause!

November 22-23
Mollie McGee Holiday Market • Longmont, CO • Boulder County Fairgrounds

I'm really excited to see how it goes!

Have a great day!
jesi

The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

So my first craft show with Hip Violet was yesterday... here is the lowdown on how it went!

The Good
• I sold enough bibs to pay for my booth space... barely!
• I met some REALLY NIFTY fellow crafters
• There was a horse sale going on at the same fairgrounds so I got my "horse fix"

The Bad
• The craft show was not exactly my "crowd" so I didn't sell much at all. The people selling gourds with faces painted on them, anything made of Bronco's fabric, and the fudge shop all made out like bandits.
• I was really surprised at how many moms who were either very pregnant or had kids of bib-wearing age didn't even take a second glance at my bibs or onesies. WEIRD!
• I also had a lot of older ladies stop, look, compliment me on the bibs but comment that they didn't have any grandkids who were at bib-wearing age anymore. OF COURSE!

The Ugly
• Aforementioned painted gourds
• Scary, huge fleece blankets... that you wear
• Storage cans made out of kids jeans and a coffee can
• Purses made out of old jeans with extra fringe

Overall it was a great learning experience. I didn't forget one thing, and got my booth totally set up in about a half hour. I really loved how my display turned out


I also met another fellow crafter, Nicole, who makes really really cool felt barrettes and jewelry that was right up my alley. We have very similar styles and taste - she gave me some really great advice on upcoming craft shows AND it was just fun to talk to someone else who has been doing the circuit for a while! Here is Violet modeling her new Marmalade barrette:

I'm trying to talk Nicole into starting her own Etsy site since I think she would do AWESOME on, so stay tuned for her link :) RIGHT Nicole? RIGHT!

I also had a great conversation with Gina who makes really colorful yarn from alpaca and lambswool, and Angela who makes wonderful smelling soap. They were all in booths close by mine and made the show more tolerable (it got really slow and a little boring at the end!).

Anyway, I'm glad I went and it makes me much more excited to try some shows that are a little more my style. Stay tuned for how those go!

Make sure to check out my Etsy site in the upcoming days as I'll be adding all of the bibs I made for the show. There will be a TON of new ones!