Woah. Can you believe it's December already? Where did the year go?
As usual, the past month I have been busy busy busy prepping for the No Coast Craft-o-Rama. This year marks my seventh year at this great event (also WOAH). I'll have a dual booth this year, presenting both Plushroom Soup and Stardust Stitches goods. I'm still working out how I'm going to do the display, but whatever happens, I'm excited as always!
Here's a sneaky peek at some of the goods that I'll have available. . . .
Oh, hai Interwebz! I have returned with splendid tales of offline adventures!
The most exciting bit of news: I launched a second business last week! The new biz is Stardust Stitches, and it's lots of handmade little lovelies to help you have a more relaxed and serene life. Slippers/house shoes, rice therapy pillows, sachets, lap/receiving blankets, etc.
Check out the Etsy shop or the Facebook page for all the goodies. I might be crazy, what with Plushroom Soup, the day job, the 5 pets, the farm plan, and trying to have a social life too. But I'm super excited about the new biz!
I'm also excited to announce that Amy, my BFF and favorite crafty partner in crime has revamped and relaunched Crabtree Studio. She's making utterly AMAZEBALLS heriloom-quality childrens clothing, so if you've got a little munchkin in your life, you should check out her stuff.
Last Sunday, we shared a booth at the innaugural Summer No Coast Craft-o-Rama in Silverwood Park (reunited and it feels so good. . . .). But holy hell, people, was it HOT. And STICKY. I felt like I was standing in a swamp all day. I don't think I've ever sweat so much in my entire life. But the park was gorgeous, the crowds were pretty steady, and we got lots of positive feedback about our work. I even made a few more sales than I had expected for both a first-time show and the first event for Stardust.
I didn't have much of a chance to check out all the other vendors, but our neighbors Oh Dier were really sweet and lovely people. And they make highly-covetable, beautiful objects to prettify your home. I think this sign in red would make a perfect addition to our reading room.
They also had one that said "Library," but I can't find an image of it. Tough to choose which I'd want more, but I better decide before Winter No Coast!
In other news, I started a new day job in mid-June. I've once again picked up the red pen after my brief erroneous stint in IT. I'm VERY relieved to not be part of that madness anymore and am loving the new job so far.
The farm dream is also going strong. My local NRCS rep came out to the farm in June to help me assess the pastures and develop a rotational grazing plan for my future critters. Turns out I have abundant and species-diverse (if a bit overgrown) pastures, including awesome native prairie.
Sadly, all this activity has left little room for plush making. But I do have lots of fun ideas and the Plush You! 2012 deadline is starting to loom, so expect to see some fun stuff soon.
Also expect to see some changes around the blog in the next few months. I haven't entirely worked out what it will look like, but I know I want one cohesive space where I can write about Plushroom Soup, Stardust Stitches, and the soon-to-be-named farm. I'm toying with lumping them all under one blog called Farm Sewn (see what I did there? See? Yes, I'm a dork.). I know many of you run several businesses. Any advice for juggling their web prescences gracefully?
There were lots and lots of new vendors this year among the old favorites like Adam Turman, Crafty Planet, I Like You, and My Friend Jess. I wish I had taken pictures of the newbies; they were all very sweet and their booths looked awesome!
Thanks again to everyone who braved the weather to come out! I'll be making more yeti ornaments this week, so don't despair if you missed out! I'll make as many as I possibly can this week and have them back in stock at I Like You by early next week at the latest.
Now on to filling Christmas orders and making my pieces for the Plush Team show at Hot Pop in January! Whew!
Here's another sneaky peek at what I'll have available at No Coast this weekend.
A few dragons, like this guy:
Plus much more!
Hope to see you at No Coast this weekend!
As promised, here's a taste of what this one-woman plush factory will be selling at No Coast this weekend.
First up, back by (very) popular demand: yeti ornaments! In colors too! I wasn't able to keep these in stock for long at last year's show, and they've sold out twice at I Like You already this season. So get to the show early if you're hoping for one of these fellas, as they're sure to go fast!
I'll also have owl and frog ornaments, and a newcomer this year: alpaca ornaments!
And your last sneak peek of the day: wee horned imps!
Stay tuned tomorrow for a final No Coast sneak peek!
I'm chained to my sewing machine this week. My craft room looks like a cyclone came through. Twice, maybe even thrice. Cut out critters are everywhere, as well as machine-sewn critters awaiting faces and stuffing. Piles of fabric are haphazardly strewn about. The floor is littered with scraps. All this can mean only one thing—No Coast is but a few short days away!
Am I ready? (Don't answer that.)
As usual when on a self-imposed deadline, inspiration keeps hitting. I keep thinking up fabulous new twists on critters, and I must admit, I crack myself up sometimes. Whether I'll actually have time to bring these ideas to fruition before Friday is another matter. Back to the sewing machine with me, where this small pile of owls awaits sewing.
I'll be back tomorrow with some sneaky peeks of what I'm bringing to No Coast on Friday and Saturday.
I spent all weekend making ornaments. Cut, sew, turn, hand-stitch; rinse and repeat. Ad nauseum. And I'm not finished yet! Many more have been added to the pile since I took this shot:
You may notice this year's newcomer: the tiny alpaca. It's such a pain in the butt to cut and sew an alpaca that small, but I think it's well worth it!
A good portion of this batch was dropped off at I Like You for their annual ornament show, which opens on November 20. The rest will be at No Coast!
Speaking of, I'm in booth B-19 this year. This year promises to be better than ever, with more new vendors than I've ever seen! Don't miss out!
The first day of No Coast
was a huge success! It seemed a lot more crowded than Friday night last year. Business at the booth was really steady. I'm so glad I made ornaments this year, because it seems that you guys really love your ornaments! All yeti
ornaments sold out in under an hour, and almost all of the owl ornaments
sold too. I whipped up a scant few more of each tonight.
Zombie critters were
also very popular; there's only one left (zombie yeti)!
I was so busy tonight that I didn't get a chance to look around at any of the other vendors' wares, but I have some helpers for the booth tomorrow, so will be able to do some shopping of my own.
See you there!
The results of my little poll are in, and yetis beat out the competition by a small margin:
You asked for it, you got it! Introducing Cotton Candy Yetis!
And for those of you who were really hoping for more frogs and owls, no worries. I have plenty of both of those as well.
See you at No Coast! I'm booth D-2 this year, in the main hallway near the security desk.
Two of the items debuting at No Coast this year are owlets and froglets. I shrunk my usual owl and frog patterns by 30 percent for the new critters. Not only because shrinking my imps and yetis by 30 percent last year was so successful, but because tiny things are endlessly adorable, no? Also, given the still less than stellar economy, I figured the more items I have at a lower price point, the better.
Well, enough rambling, on with the pictures!
So, how much smaller is 30 percent, exactly? For comparison:
There are only 16 days until No Coast (ack!). Which means it's officially the time of year when I put most of my life on hold to sew pretty much every spare moment. My sleep, house, and social calendar all suffer. This year is a little extra stressful since my pieces for the Go Ask Alice show are due close to the same time as well. Yikes!
I've been carving out windows of time wherever I can to get some sewing done. I sew in my craft room
at friend's houses
even during my lunch break at work!
It's amazing what just an hour here or there can do for both my sanity and my productivity. Tomorrow, I'll post some pictures of what I've been cranking out. For now, here's a sneak peek:
So last week I was happily (and very thankfully!) un-wait listed for No Coast. Which means my typical month of manic stitching sessions begins. I will make as many plushies as I possibly can before the big event. Which brings me to the real reason I'm posting today. Given that I have limited sewing time (22 days! Ack!), where should I focus my energy? Which critters do you like best? If you were coming to the show to buy a critter (and I sure hope you are!), what would you most hope to see on my table? I've installed a handy little poll below, so you can anonymously let me know what you think. If you choose "other," please do leave a comment on the post explaining what the "other" should be.
Thanks so much for your participation!
Sorry, folks. I know I promised this to you earlier in the week. Where does all the time go? Well, shut up and get to it already, right? Settle in, it's a long one.
No Coast was, as always, super fun. Part of what I love so much about doing this show and others is the on-the-spot feedback of your work. There was lots of oohing and aahing over the new plush, and people responded really well to the new name and the new logo (props again to Paul for doing such an awesome job!). But the part I love most? My fellow crafters, and all the good loot. :)
For the third year in a row, my booth (shared with Amy) was next to Buttonpom. Katie makes excellent handbags, wallets, and other purse accessories out of the cutest fabrics. I love the shapes she uses, and her color combinations. For those that have seen the perhaps too well-loved handbag I carry around every day, you know how much I love Katie's work. This year, I bought an adorable business-card holder from her. I probably should have bought a new handbag, but my current one isn't ailing too badly yet.
How cute is that little blue squirrel?!
My other neighbor this year was LuSa Organics. I can't rave enough about how much I love their soaps and lip balm. I originally discovered these guys through my CSA and became a customer for life after one try, so I was super excited that they participated in No Coast this year. Honestly, you need to try their soap and healing lip balm. Do it now. I'll wait.
Got your soap? Let's continue the No Coast tour.
Another awesome vendor is My Friend Jess, who is keeping me happily squirrel-skirted for the second year in a row. No picture yet as she was out of my size and I placed a custom order.
And, I would be remiss to talk about No Coast without mentioning the inimitable Adam Turman, an amazing print artist and all-around super nice guy. This year I bought his Eat Locally print:
I can't wait to get this framed and hang it in our yet-to-be-completed reading room.
The last item I bought at No Coast this year was a fancy dog collar from Cosmo's Collars. Not sure yet which dog I'll put it on. . . .
There were, of course, tons of other goodies to be had, but when you're vending, you get precious little time to sneak away and shop for yourself! I had more time for that at Craftsmas this year, which was a smaller event held the next day at the Uptown VFW. This was the first year I participated in this show, coordinated by the lovely ladies from I Like You. I had sooooo much fun (not just because of the whisky! Yes, at this fair, you can drink while you shop. Or vend.), and got a prime booth spot next to the I Like You booth. If you haven't met Angela and Sarah, you need to. They're super fun and hip, and they make great merchandise to boot. I bought a fantastic pair of arm warmers (Sarah makes them out of recycled socks) and some squirrel earrings from them. Go get yourself down to their shop on Nicollet while you still can; they'll be closing their doors after Christmas and reopening in Northeast (yay! my hood!) next Spring.
There were so many little lovelies at this show. Awesome vintage button jewelry from Deux Amis Designs. I bought these two pairs of post earrings:
Fantastic accessories from Nice Designs. I couldn't resist this cute ponytail holder duo:
The most beautiful necklaces from Glamoramapuss. Out of my price range, unfortunately (Santa, are you reading?), but truly original and drool-worthy conversation starters:
But by far the best thing from the show is this guy:
Doesn't he just crack you up? I heart him so much. I traded a giraffe to the very talented Becca Jo of Duckie Uglings for this little guy, who now watches over all my home computer activities.
And that's a wrap! Who was your favorite vendor from the shows?
