A Few New Things

A few new things to share, in no particular order:

www.heritagestudioandgallery.com/blog
Amy my photographer friend who is consigning a bunch of bags for me has written a lovely blog post about my shop (and my tendency to get lost while driving to a new place). In addition to having a beautiful studio, Amy has a sweet blog--check it out!

* Last night [dance of joy] I learned that my poem "Animal" will appear in Chopper Poetry Journal 4. (Incidentally this link is where I first learned about Chopper--I appreciated their somewhat sassy editorial note--and I think it is an important resource for every writer to know about.) I am so pumped! My publication history: in the 11th grade I won an Ohio Young Poets contest and was published in their very nice (and very legitimate) anthology. In college, one of my poems that I unfortunately titled "(untitled)" was published in the College of Wooster's student publication The Goliard. And now this! I am so pumped. Even my mom (who does not especially like poetry) wants a copy when it's out. :) Though I haven't double checked this fact yet, I think that "Animal" did not make the cut in the final draft of my thesis book. Isn't that funny?

* I have a new and very fun design that I think I will call the Pod. It was a commissioned design, and the first one was so cute that my friend who commissioned it wants another one! It's a little tiny thing, about a 3.5 inch square that has a magnetic snap flap and a hook on the back that you could hook onto a belt loop or any bag hardware. I am hugely inspired to make a bunch of them for the Open House.



* I also have a new design for a mommy-and-me passport cover, inspired by another friend of mine who makes frequent international trips with her family. With an extra pocket in the back, it comfortably holds 2 passports. I am pleased with how it turned out. I used a loop / tab closure, which I think is perfect for the design.

* I purchased an ad at Majaba.org. I am told that they get 20,000 individual visitors a day, which is amazing. So far it has increased traffic to my shop, but no new sales. That is OK--it is less than 1 day old. Majaba.org is this fabulous tool for Etsians to quickly see how their wares are faring--you can see shop hearts, item hearts, and new hearts all very easily.

Less Abstract, Zippers, and a Treasury!

Did you ever notice that when big stuff happens, sometimes the only way you can talk about it is in giant, sweeping abstractions? That would explain my last post.

I applied for a job that I would have enjoyed, and the other day I learned that I did not get that position. It was so disappointing, mostly because I had been mentally preparing for the job for about three months.

But life does go on. Let me tell you about that.

My zippers came in the mail today! Woohoo! I love my zipper lady. She has opened up a new shop just for zippers, and it is called ZipIt. If you need zippers, Jennie is your lady. So during naptime, I made the first 3 of 100 planned zippy pouches. They turned out pretty nice. I am so happy with how the zipper pull charms look on them. I was starting to think I'd never use all the beads I bought!

Today I discovered Twitter, and I tweeted some new zippy pouches--I was totally amazed at how quickly the views came in! More quickly than without twitter, that is for sure. My twitter address is www.twitter.com/custombags. "SeatOfMyPants" was taken already!

This weekend I bought a really insightful guide to improving your Etsy site. TheBuzz offers lots and lots of helpful tips--which I will not reveal here, since TheBuzz has a whole collection for sale at her shop. I am glad to have read through it, and hopefully by following some of the tips from TheBuzz, I will be able to get my Etsy shop to be more busy.

And one more tidbit:
Today I snagged a Treasury!




http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=56235

Successful Naptime

I am so happy about our new schedule. Baby naps at 10, and by 10:30 the boy and I are up to the attic. Today he was getting bored of www.poissonrouge.com, and so I am going to have to sneak up and find him some new pages to play with. (Don't worry, he has no idea how to navigate the internet, and I am right there in the same room with him.) Today he was more curious about my fleece-covered pliers (key fob making, of course), my rotary cutter (sharp, don't touch!), the bobbins, and some knitting needles! In the midst of all of that, I made three more checkbook covers. I am really pleased about them, but they do demand an answer to a question: do people even use checks anymore?

I sure don't. Between plastic and the internet, I have very little use for them. I do still carry around a checkbook though, because I haven't abandoned them completely. I write checks for the offering at church, and I write checks to register for things like craft shows. Perhaps there are still some people out there who would like to toss that unsightly vinyl cover that came free from the bank with the checks--no disdain meant toward free things, mostly toward unsightly vinyl things!

Amy's bags

Here are a few of the bags Amy has at Heritage Photography. These are all my Medium Tote size, and they have coordinating key fobs. Can I tell you how much I like key fobs? They are so fun and cute. And truthfully, my keys are so much more easier to find now.

I love these fabrics. Here I have used fabrics from Heather Ross, Heather Bailey, Marcus Brothers, Alexander Henry, and Tina Givens. They rock my socks!

What's New at Seat Of My Pants

Lots has been happening here at Seat Of My Pants since the last time I loved my blog.   Here's the short and sweet of it:

* Home bag parties--so far they're a hit!  I'm pleased to have had five successful bag parties so far.  It's a lot of fun, and I am slowly figuring out the rhythm of how they should go.  Packing is the hardest part, because my workshop is in the attic and the car of course is in the driveway.   I can get everything down in 5 trips, and none of it is heavy at all (although the relative weight will seem much less after I am walking around for one again!)  And in a couple of weeks, I'm having my first Seat Of My Pants Open House.  Slightly less moving involved with this one.  I'm really looking forward to all the froofy, girly food I'm gonna have at that event.

* Updated Diaper Bag design--It's a great big messenger bag with a very sexy front-flap zipper, binding, and super duper pleated pockets.  It has a few Katie Straps (which I call that because my friend Katie suggested that I add them), which are straps with snaps on them for hanging pacifiers or other things with hooks, a magnetic snap closure and a top snap flap to keep things under control at the top of the bag.  

* The Folger Home Summer Market in Avon Lake, Ohio--Oh, I can't tell you how excited I am about this event.  It's an invitation-only event--invitation only, can you believe it??  Erin the coordinator ran across my shop on Etsy.  It's July 26, right at Rt 83 and Lake Rd. in Avon.  There should be a lot of great stuff to see and do.  I will be about 8 months pregnant then, so that'll be interesting.  But I am so excited!  Click here to see their website.

* Friday With The Artist at Tower City in Cleveland--This is such an awesome venue because it is really busy with people walking.  Lisa the coordinator says there's a week of advertising for

 the shops all included.  And no jeans--very fancy!  I'm really looking forward to this one--it is on Aug. 1.  Click here for information about Friday With The Artist and other events at Tower City.

* The Handbook to Handmade--an awesome collection of Etsy artisans put together by Tim Adam.  The next book is volume 7.  It's a beautiful book--Tim does a really terrific job.  Each artist has about 4 pictures and the address of their Etsy shop included.  The back of the book features little advertising spots for other artists.  I think this is such a wonderful idea.  Every time we take the books around to various events, each of the artists is supporting everyone who is in the book.  How cool is that?  For more on the Handbook, check out the blog or the the forum thread.

The Silver Lining to the Sewing Blunder

You know, when you mess up round one that thoroughly, the good news is that it really does only get better from there.  (I have to mention this because it's hilarious: shortly after I posted last night, I went ahead and ironed the iron-on interfacing to the ironing board.  But it really did get better from there.)

The 2nd journal cover turned out beautifully.  It is not quite done--I need to pick up some snaps today--but it is really nice!  I am so pumped to show it off at the bag parties.  I made another one today with that same fabric as the church event wallet, and it also turned out nicely.  It's such a simple, lovely thing--it doesn't take that long to make at all.  

My original thought was to offer custom journal covers for any size of notebook, but after yesterday's fiasco, I think that may be more difficult than I first thought it would be!  I'd love to get some Etsy book makers' books to put in there.  

Our Outing and The Bag Rack

...was a success, if you ask me.  I picked up a couple funky prints I haven't seen before, and they will become a handful of wallets and a couple bags.  We hit an adorable little yarn / fabric shop, and then a massive craft warehouse--what a great way to spend a morning... and afternoon!

My husband surprised me and hung up the finished bag rack while I was out and about.  It turned out great--I am not surprised by that!