Handmade Monday Week 17 - A Nervous Commission

It has been a busy week for me this week and a rather nervous one.
I had a lovely surprise in my Folksy inbox last weekend when a lady messaged me saying that she had purchased a bag a couple of weeks ago and loves it so much that would now like one exactly the same but double the size and could i do that?





Yes of course i said, quoted a price and got to work on a pattern. I doubled the length and width of the bottom and straight away went into panic mode, it looked enormous!




But i continued and doubled the pelmet size too.





I cut and stitched the base.

Prepared the pelmet.

Sewed and attached longer ,wider straps.

Then panic set in more! It seemed enormous, what was i to do? So much easier when the customer sees and buys.

So i decided to take photos before doing the final sew and email the customer.

I felt that you still couldnt see just how big it was so i took another putting one of my bags beside to show the difference in size.

I nervously awaited a reply and PHEW she replied that it was perfect!!!!!

So i stitched it all together, added my famous trait of a flower.

Then listed and she bought straight away!

With that out the way i turned my attention to trying a new bag. A basic design but very pretty.

Little girls will love this one.

And now to turn my attention to preparing stock for this weekends fair. Held in the gardens of Castle Ashby in Northampton and organised by "The Anns" of Pennine fairs i am really looking forward to this one and hoping to do well.

Mobile phone cases are a good seller.

So i've cut out loads ready to sew.

These pen cases are also a good seller, ideal for your handbag.

So i've made loads of them and now need to attach the flowers to finish them off.

And finally my new bag charms are also proving to be really popular.

So i have flowers everywhere!!!! And also some butterflies too! I think there will be a real summery feel to my stall this time.

Thanks for taking time to pop by and if you want to see what other crafters have been up to this week pop along to 1stUniquegifts blog and follow the links.

Until next time

xxx

Blooms Garden Centre Craft fair March 15th

On Tuesday i took a days holiday from work to attend another craft fair at Blooms Garden Centre in Rugby.
I had been told about the fair from a fellow crafter from the craft forum and, as it was local, decided it would be a great opportunity for me.
As usual it was a mad rush for me as i was one of the last to arrive but it didnt take me too long to set up.
Blooms runs a gardening club and on this particular day they were offering double points to their members so we knew there would be quite a few people around.
We didnt anticipate how many though!!
All morning there seemed to be people everywhere and quite often i found that there was quite a gathering around my table.
It was a lovely feeling having people looking at my table and an even better feeling when they started buying. And buy they did!
I managed to sell 4 out of the 6 bags that i had made plus orders for 3 more. The fabric flowers also went well as did the pen cases and mobile phone cases. Several of my cards were picked up plus an invite to attend fairs in Bourton on the Water.
It was a great day and a good morale boost plus great to catch up with fellow crafters that i havent seen for a while.
But now i need to retreat to my machine and get sewing. The next fair is a big one so lots to be done!!
Until next time
xxx

Handmade Monday Week 6

Welcome once again to Handmade Monday organised by Wendy of 1stUniqueGifts.
This seems to be turning into a very popular weekly blog, which is great. Last week there were 25 participants, all with lovely stories to tell of their week of craft. It's lovely to read about what everyone else is up to.
So for me it was a chance to finish my bags and as i reported in an earlier post this week i am very proud of what i have achieved.
And here is the finished result!
Pretty in Pink.

Glorious green.

And accessories to match!!

Mobile phone cases and pen cases.

Looking forward to hearing your comments on the bags as next weekend is my first craft fair of the year and these bags will be making an appearance.

Also making an appearance will be fabric flower brooches.

And just to finish off, a photo of my red heart wreath that i listed on folksy yesterday as part of The March Hares challenge, listing an item a day.

No sales so far but still hoping. If you are interested in my wreath or any other products you can find me on Folksy under CottonsAndDreams.

Thanks so much for stopping by and if you want to see more of Handmade Monday bloggers, pop over to Wendys Blog.

Until Next Time.

xxx

Handmade Monday Week 5

Welcome to week 5 of handmade Monday organised by Wendy of 1stUniqueGifts where all of us crafty people can get together and show what we have been up to or what we are working on at the moment.
I have to admit i seem to have spent several hours on the computer this week rather than getting on with my makes.
I signed up to a new site called crafty-bitz run by Sarah from Dragonfly Jersey. She's hoping to turn the site into an online craft fair and basically all you need to do is sign up, load your album with photos of your makes and also links to your shops or websites so that people can find you.
Sarah achieved her 1st goal of 50 members this week and is now aimimg for 200.
I've also spent quite a bit of time "lurking" around the folksy forum and have picked up quite a few tips on promoting and selling yourself. Hoping to put some of what i have learnt in action very soon.

So back to my makes.
Well i managed to finish off the mobile phone cases earlier in the week. And then, at the weekend, i found a bit of time to start cutting up the lovely fabric i bought last week and make a couple of summer bags.
The colours are rather loud i know but i like that.
So let me show you the beginning of the project and hopefully next week i can show you the end result.
First i have cut out 2 bases and attached them to some wadding.

Then i cut the pelmets. I think both materials for each bag will compliment each other very well.

Here are the straps.

The linings.

And the first base stitched.

Hopefully i have left you looking forward to seeing the finished product.

Pop back next week and i will show you.

Thank you for popping by.

xxx

My Creative Space

I have noticed that Wendy from 1stunique gifts not only organises Handmade Monday weekly but also participates in My Creative Space on a Thursday organised by www.kootoyoo.com . I keep meaning to join in but always seem to be late. And i think the blog is Australian based so there are a lot of people getting in early because of the time difference. This week there were 176 participants!! No mean feat and congrats to the organiser as she has obviously built it up well. Here's hoping Wendy will have the same success eventually.
Even tho i didnt join in on Thursday i thought i would still do my own creative space post.

So here was my workspace last week!
Here were mobile cases sewn and waiting for inners.

Here are the inners.

And here is the final result!

Another little collection ready for my 2011 fairs.

Thanks for looking.

Until next time

xxx

Handmade Monday Week 3

Welcome to week 3 of Handmade Monday organised by Wendy of 1stuniquegifts. I seem to be a lot later posting than most people but i have just got home from work and a little detour via Hobbycraft!! But i'm here now!
Happy valentines, by the way, to all you lovlies. I received the lovely flowers below so i was happy!
If you read my previous post in the week you will know that my constant companion to all my fairs last year (photo below) finally made the front feature page of Folksy this week and within a couple of days sold! It was hard letting her go and as i wrapped her up had a "Toy Story" moment imagining her coming to life and wondering where she was being shipped off to!!

Then to my shock,horror and suprise i got a message from someone wanting a mobile phone cover (below). My second folksy sale in a week!

So back to handmade Monday and my decision to start a new era of the teddy now that all 3 of the originals have been sold. Below are my first 3 in the making. Hopefully they will be sitting up and smiling at you next week.

And finally a little sneak preview of a little lady i have made for Francesca of Silverthistle Beads

who won a competition that i ran on the craft forum. She will be going in the post tomorrow.

Until next time.

xxx

Handmade Monday Week 2

Well it's week 2 of Handmade Monday organised by Wendy of 1stuniquegifts. After last weeks success we are all returning with more handmade goodies to show you and hopefully a few more people will be joining us. All participants' links can be found over on Wendy's blog.
Can i also just say a big WELCOME to my 10 new followers. Makes it all worth while when you start to realise people are popping by to see what you have been up to.

So following on from yesterdays post here is my new MUM cushion with the flowers that Krysia lovingly cut out for me and the patchwork scraps left over from the bag i made last week.
I was chuffed to use my machine to write all the wording, finally i am using it to it's full potential, tho the grey material has a white thread running thru it and i think i positioned the writing incorrectly thru the line so it may need to be sold as a second. I didn't realise how bad it looked until it was all put together and then didnt have the heart to undo it all. Using Krysia's flowers again i put them on a new phone case to embellish. I think they really add a lovely finish. The button i have made with fimo. Another thing i'm attempting to learn at the moment!

Have used a mixture of my red scrap material for this mobile phone cover.

2 more phone cases cut out and ready to sew.

Another of my favourite fabric flower brooches.

And this is what i'm working on the moment but still needs some tweeking.

Following on from the success of the gingerbread men at christmas i'm attempting to make a few of these smaller ones with chef hat and apron and hopefully holding a sign saying "Special Mum" and putting a magnet on the back.

The hats have come out ok but the apron is looking messy at the moment so i need to tidy them up a bit. Will hopefully have a finished product to show you next week.

Thanks for popping by and dont forget to have a look over on Wendys blog if you have the time.

Until next time.

xxx