Back to Work time....again
I guess I shouldn't be upset that I go back to work today since it pays for our toys but I have to admit, I'd rather stay home and sew! We had a productive but refreshing weekend after an incredibly hard work week. Mark got a new table saw and already has a buyer for his old one. Leaves us a little one and the new one, which he loves. Every time he uses it he laughs and says...thanks George, since the plan was to use his stimulus check for it. The thing was on sale this past weekend with a rebate so we went ahead and got it. Not sure what I will buy to stimulate the economy! He finished a doll canopy bed but it sits waiting for me to make the canopy and bed set. Our new American Girl display doll arrived and she is laying in the bed, sheetless and blanketless! However, she does have a brand new night shirt since I couldn't see her laying in bed with a skirt and shirt on! The lime green knit night shirt has ribbing on the collar and is really very cute! When the canopy goes on, I'll post a picture or two. The doll buggy is almost done and I have convinced myself that I will have to make a carriage set for it. Why do I do this to myself?? The buggy is so darn cute, I love it! I have been working on fish dinners for our inventory and they were a lot of fun. Also completed a custom order carrot cake, which went out in the mail Monday. I finally cleaned out what will be our office and it will be nice to have a dedicated shipping area! I made some cute little 2" wool felt bunnies as I was watching TV one night and one little girl bunny will play a part in our latest marketing idea. Be sure to be on the lookout for it! I made Ayla a necklace with one and I can see a basket filled with little bunny pins at our annual Fire Dept craft fair. Nice little things to throw in my take along bag! Tonight I'll pack some squash slices and hopefully, will have time to finish them at work tonight.
Another Sewing Day
After playing with other projects this weekend and basically just spending the time recharging after a rough work week, I was back to the felt table and the sewing machine. More food for stocking, working on a fruit platter but still have some oranges and strawberries to do. Cookies were in my take along bag and they didn't get touched at work this week, ugh. Worked on them on the way to Lowes today, a trip to get some wood for a baby buggy and a canopy bed Mark wants to make. The long waiting doll head got a body but is still armless. Actually made two bodies and decided it was too large for the head so it will probably sit headless as long as the head sat bodiless! HA! Made a second body that it the perfect fit, not to put some arms on this little creature. Hopefully, will work on more fruit and some veggies for the market bag tomorrow....here's hoping!
Let them eat cake!
Decided to play with some cake slices today after getting side tracked yesterday. Piddled around the house, finished a tiny baby pin that I was working on, and sewed a beard on a pocket gnome. Not sure where all the time went! I broke the printer trying to change ink cartridges and so we made a mad dash to town an hour and a half away to get a new one. Ugh, pricey and a big time sucker! I did bring my take along box and sewed icing on some more poptarts so at least not all was wasted. Felt meals are filed in ziplock bags and Tabetha and I have come up with some great marketing ideas. Lots of discounts and freebies in the future! Mark finally got the teeny weeny knobs for his dresser is is finishing it tonight. I got the cutest little tiny zippers in the mail yesterday and as much as I hate putting zippers in, these little babies are intimidating! Thank goodness for my seam ripper! Will be making a fleece sweatsuit for my newest baby!
Weekends are for recharging
After sleeping on and off all day Saturday AND sleeping through the night, I woke up refreshed and motivated. I dug through the pile of felt and fabric that has accumulated on my dining room table. Believe it or not, I DO have a wonderful craft room, unfortunately its a disaster so I had moved cutting to the dining room, I wont mention the other rooms! I sorted wool felt by colors into 2 gallon ziplock bags and filed them in a wooden crate. I think the system will work well if I stay on top of it. I tend to get lazy and procrastinate putting my stuff away and in the blink of an eye, its once again a disaster. Organized chaos I call it, much to Marks amusement. Anyway, the fabric is stored in bins by use and I can more or less recognize the dining room for what it's supposed to be. I saw the cutest pocket gnomes in an online store and used some scrap felt to work on some up today. Trying to decide which style I like best. Probably should have finished some food or one of the other dozen projects in progress but... then I wouldn't be me! Ayla's ballerina doll WILL have ballet slippers before I give it to her in May. I work best Just another project on my please finish list. Tomorrow will be devoted mostly to food, but I do hope on cutting the body out for the Waldorf baby I'm working on. The head has been finished for weeks and now its time for a body!
Stores Open!
After some major computer problems and employee issues (that would be me!) Tabetha really pulled it off! Our online store is open! Check out the fantastic job she did on it! http://hyenacart.com/nanastoybox
My recently arrived package of fabric taunts me, I'm anxiously waiting for my last night of work before I can play with it. Mark is finishing up his doll dresser today, he does such beautiful work. He picked up the rough hewn pecan today and of course had to plane a piece right away WOW! Personally, I think it would be perfect for the doll cradle I want next, HA!
We had poptart issues last night, totally forgot to put the stuffing in my bag before I left for work and I kicked myself all during the terrible slow night! Even my coworkers and Xray tech commented about my lack of sewing during the night. Needless to say, bag is properly packed today!
My recently arrived package of fabric taunts me, I'm anxiously waiting for my last night of work before I can play with it. Mark is finishing up his doll dresser today, he does such beautiful work. He picked up the rough hewn pecan today and of course had to plane a piece right away WOW! Personally, I think it would be perfect for the doll cradle I want next, HA!
We had poptart issues last night, totally forgot to put the stuffing in my bag before I left for work and I kicked myself all during the terrible slow night! Even my coworkers and Xray tech commented about my lack of sewing during the night. Needless to say, bag is properly packed today!
Another work night
Poptart icings were beaded at work last night, thankfully a slow night and beading helped the time pass by. Will take the poptarts and sew the icing on tonight. New fabric and ribbing arrived in the mail today. Unfortunately I wont be able to play with it until this weekend. Have some baby doll clothes planned for it! Also got some swatches in the mail and was busy looking at the variety, I failed to see the instructions that said the swatches were stacked in the order the newsletter listed. Shouldnt be too hard to put them where they belong! Cant wait to order some of the new fabric though. lots of bright trendy colors for some doll clothes! I may even make the grandbabies some summer clothes. Marks tool arrived today and I woke to find him out in the woodshop. One of the nurses I work with asked if we wanted some rough hewn pecan he had and of course, we said YES! Maybe that cradle I want will be made from pecan wood. Our Hyena Cart opens its first stocking tomorrow and I hope Tabetha has the store ready. She is doing an awesome job on it. The ballerina doll I made for Ayla for her first recital is still sitting here without ballet slippers and maybe I'll get them done this weekend and cross that off my to do list. Too many projects and not enough time off.
My last day of play this week
I go back to work tonight for my three day stretch. Fortunately, I have a bag of handsewing to take with me in case we slow to a stop at 3AM. My coworkers get a kick out of the projects I bring with me, but certainly don't mind me working on them. I have several breakfast meals, pitas, chips, and ravioli dinners ready to stock on our Hyena Cart site Friday and will work on the poptarts and sticky buns until then. I took a break from food yesterday and whipped up a doll outfit. I borrowed an American Girl doll from a daughter of one of our Rescue members and have to pay her an outfit in exchange. Its worth being able to use her for display! Mark's Adirondack chair and table is absolutely beautiful and he has diligently working on a chest of drawers for the last two days. Waiting for a needed tool is driving him crazy, but I know the feeling...I'm waiting for some fabric to arrive! Hpefully I'll finish the latest Waldorf baby I'm working on this week, I am anxious to make a layette for her! I'm hoping Mark makes a baby cradle next but we'll see.
Tabetha has been working hard on our Hyena Cart, in fact, we call her the boss. Admittedly, I call her slave driver when I can't stand to see one more felt pancake! We still have to work on our packaging, but I think we're on the right track there. Hoping to establish an Etsy store next week between Hyena stockings.
Tabetha has been working hard on our Hyena Cart, in fact, we call her the boss. Admittedly, I call her slave driver when I can't stand to see one more felt pancake! We still have to work on our packaging, but I think we're on the right track there. Hoping to establish an Etsy store next week between Hyena stockings.
Welcome to my world....
Welcome! I am posting for the first time today, spending more time deciding how to start than actually writing I think! I've always journaled, never consistently and thats one of the things I hope to change! I enjoy surfing others blogs and decided that this was too cool a medium not to particpate in. So welcome to my world....
I'm a nana of two beautiful girls and their parents are "crunchy". Geez, when I was my daughters age I was called a hippie and an earth mama, now they're called crunchy, go figure. Anyway, at Christmas my daughter, Tabetha and son in law, Jeremy, announced to family and friends that they wanted only healthy and safe toys for the girls. Not a huge request, you'd think, but with all the news focused on unsafe toys made in China, Mark and I made it a point to walk through a major toy store and read labels. We were stunned. Surely Disney doesnt have their teething rings and rattles made in China! Well, yes they do! We decided the safest thing would be to create our own toys for the girls.We gave Ayla a wooden stove/sink combo for Christmas and decided to make her a matching frig for her birthday. (she turned 3 on April Fools Day!). I spent many hours creating food out of wool felt to fill the frig Pops was making her and we had a blast. The food and frig were so well received by Ayla and her friends, and of course their crunchy parents, that Nana's Toy Box was born.
