On Fire Again

Have I ever been busy? Yes, I have.

Been making totes, totes, totes. Had a pile of tees and decided to do traditional totes. Couple of them came out a bit more than a plain tote, but mostly totes. And they look awesome.

Have more to sew. Pics soon.

MORE IN THE STORE

Wow! I'm on fire.  I finished several more VesTotes last night and photographed them this morning and posted them on Artfire. My store is bursting at the seams. Here's the link to my Artfire shop again:  http://www.artfire.com/ext/shop/studio/yayamade

And here's pics of a couple of my Favs.


I'm also having a great time with Amazine. I downloaded the "make it a story" button (works kind of like the "pin it" button from Pinterest) and I can add all kinds of stuff to my own magazine. It's pretty cool.  I can also add items from my store and Amazine adds a "shop it" button.  Here's the link: http://yayamade.amazine.com/

Three, Two, One, Blast Off!

It's done. I launched both Milk Money and Tee Leaves on Artfire today. Quite a job, getting them all listed.

Milk Money is the little coin purse I designed using the spout of a juice/milk carton and fabric. I think it's quite ingenious, if I do say so myself. And I do.  I launched some made from animal prints, most of which were from a fabric I lovingly call pleather, a plastic leather-looking fabric. The other is a knit fabric, pink leopard print. Yowsa!

The newer ones are from fabric and include lettering to spell out fun words like Cash Cow, Mad Money, Glad Money, Champ Change. Yes, I know it's supposed to be Chump Change. But that sounds so negative, so I changed it.  Here's a couple of the Milk Money Coin Purses. You can see and purchase them at www.yayamade.artfire.com.


Also, launched today are my bookmarks that I call Tee Leaves, as they're made from tee shirts. And just like the lettering on the Milk Money Coin Purses, it too is from tee shirts. I've spelled out words representing differing reading genre like Fiction, Romance, Fiction and the like. They're quite fun and, I think, a very smart use of tee shirts. I do so love upcycling!

 Aren't they fun!

Colorful.

No two are alike.

These, too, can be found, viewed, and PURCHASED at www.yayamade.artfire.com

WHEW!

What a busy day. Woke at 4:00 am. Usually rise at 5:00, but had an idea pop in my head and my brain wouldn't turn off, so I just got up and headed for the Studio. Did a little creating; nothing at all to do with the idea that woke me, but still a good one.

Walked 6 miles. Then vacuumed the house, washed Mollie, demildewed the outdoor furniture (scrub, scrub, scrub), recovered three of Mollie's beds, and deconstructed some tees. It's sure getting sleepy here.

Sadly, I've got no pics of Mollie getting her bath, but here are pics of her showing off her newly recovered pillows. And also a shot of the flower I purchased in Bastrop. It is so cute. It's made from spoons.

LAUNCHING SOON

I've been working hard lately and will soon be  launching -- well, relaunching, actually - Milk Money, the little coin purse I designed, one of my favorite upcycle designs.  The proceeds from the sale of Milk Money will be donated to the Episcopal Relief & Development to purchase a cow for a family in a Third World nation so they will have milk to drink and sell to support themselves. (I've purchased two shares of a cow so far.)  I'm busy sewing lots of them. And they're so fun. I'll be adding them to my Artfire store soon along with my Tee Leaves, the bookmarks I upcycle from tee shirts.  Stay tuned.

STUDIO BEFORE AND AFTER

It's been a while now since I've made the changes, but I wanted to show some before-and-after shots of my Studio. 

On one wall I had a hodge-podge of storage that served its purpose but wasn't particularly attractive. It consisted of half of a bookshelf, rolling drawer thingys, filing cabinets and an old desk.  I had only half a bookcase as I broke the full bookcase when I foolishly tried to scoot it over without emptying it first. (Geez. I know better.) 

While out thrifting one day, I stumbled onto a cabinet that was 8' long, white, someone's DIY -- and a very good one at that. I bought it, called MHSNL who has a pickup and he graciously agreed to haul it home for me. I cleared out the hodge-podge and installed my new cabinet and added the half bookcase and a little cabinet and scooted the file cabinets to the end. Turns out that having only half of the book worked out just fine; the full bookcase would have been too tall. Here's the work in progress and the finished project. Pretty outstanding, I must say. All white and coordinated-looking.

On the adjoining and opposite walls, were my sewing desks. Yes, desks. Vintage desks that I was going to paint white so all of my studio furniture would coordinate. But instead I got a brainstorm -- more like a brain hurricane -- and got my DIY on. I'm soooooooo proud of my handiwork. I combined four 6-cube cabinets, two 20"x 6' tops, four 2x4s (to raise the table tops up to the correct height.  Here's the before and afters.

In the middle of the room is my worktable. It began as one of those trifold-on-metal-frame-on-rollers deals from Hancocks and I've had it for years. But I wasn't able to store much beneath it and that was a huge waste of space underneath. So I purchased three little bookcases, put casters on them and attached the table top to one of the bookcases. It works the same, hinged with two drop leafs. I have so much storage. Another KC DIY that I'm very proud of.  I have a pic from the internet for the before shot.

My next DIY? To paint the dresser that I bought at an estate sale. It's a wonderful dresser. The doors hide lots of sewing and crafting supplies. The drawers are all graduated heights. The first is perfect for cutting tools. I have my patterns in the second. The third holds lots of goodies, too. I will be painting it white, of course. Then my studio will be super coordinated. Here's the before. The after will be a while coming as I'm finishing up a coffee table I've been working on and have a hutch to refinish next. Then the studio dresser will be tackled.

"Coordinated" seems to be my Word of the Day.

MORE ROADTRIP

While in Bastrop, we shopped at some of the little shops and ate at a couple of the Mom & Pop cafes.

great breakfast spot

MBD at breakfast spot

cute shop

lots of pretty clothes

dinner Friday night

We didn't make it to PawPaw's, but will definitely have to go back. Check out the menu. Fried Deviled Eggs. Sounds yummy. The young man in the pic was busy washing the windows and wore a PawPaw's tee, so I convinced him he would be a great subject in our pic. He graciously agreed. Such a cutie.

PawPaw's Catfish House

Interesting menu selections

Bastrop is a pretty fun place to visit. We'll have to go back and check out the other shops. We arrived late Friday, so many were closed.

We made the Renegade Craft Fair on Saturday. Saw a lot of pretty things. Lots of jewelry, tees and other interesting products like bags made from inner tubes. There were also some vintage clothing; lots of Sixties and Eighties pieces. Brings back memories. Ahhhhhhhhhhh. Didn't take too many pics; well, hardly any at all as most crafters are leery of pics of their stuff fearing that their designs might be copied. I totally understand. Did get a pic of MBD while purchasing some hair ties and headbands. The little guy in the bow tie was also a cutie.