Monday, June 28, 2010

MY NEW DIGS

As much as I loved my old craft room, it was time for a move. With the opening of my Etsy shop, I've been literally tripping over myself the last few months and couldn't stand it any longer. Last weekend I decided to flip flop the craft room and the guest room. It was a big decision as our guest's always love our sunny guest room. But, we don't have guests every day, and I DO craft almost every day, so in the end it really wasn't that big a decision to make. So with my husband's help, we got to work rearranging. And here are our results.

I know, you're asking why I do I need a TV in my craft room. I really enjoy watching (or listening) to movies while I work, so the TV really was a necessity no matter how uncreative it looks.

Because this room is larger, I'm now able to have one table for sewing and one for paper crafts. This is the main reason that I wanted to make the move. My sewing machine can now sit out full time. You can't see it, but there's a table top ironing board right by the machine as well. I LOVE the natural light that comes into this room!

Yes, that wall is definately PINK! It's about as pink as you can get! I wanted to add a bit of color to the room and I think I succeeded. My husband doesn't share my enthusiasm for it, but I love it! Don't worry, you can't see it from anywhere else in the house. You have to be in the room to enjoy it! Along the pink wall is my paper crafting table. Now I don't have to put away a sewing project to make a quick card.
This is a little space behind the door, that is perfect for the large ironing board and a bit of storage. The closets are also larger in this room as well, so I feel so much more organized.
So...with all this new space, I should be creating some amazing things, shouldn't I! Time will tell. Meanwhile I apologize to all my guests. But it's MY ROOM NOW!
Terri

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

A SHOE MODEL IN THE MAKING

Meet Grace, my shoe model! She's the daughter of Amanda, a friend of my daughter's. Amanda was kind enough to let me photograph Grace in a few pairs of my shoes. We set up a photo session where my plan was to take some outdoor photos in the grass, on the front steps etc..., but as luck would have it, nature didn't cooperate and it was a rainy day so here's the result of our indoor photo session.
I love the way the shoes with the ribbons look! I'm thinking the pink ones below are my favorites!


Lauren, who is designing my website, is planning to use a few of the photos on my site. I hope she can work wonders with lighting, and backgrounds as my photography skills leave much to be desired!

In the meantime, I think Grace is a natural at modeling! Thanks Amanda, your daughter is adorable!
Terri



Saturday, June 19, 2010

FACEBOOK

All Things for Baby is now on Facebook! My plan is to show photos of new items on Facebook at the same time that I put them on Etsy. Become a fan on facebook or a follower on my blog and I will enter your name in a drawing for a free pair of custom shoes. Become a fan AND a follower and I'll enter your name twice! Add a comment and get a THIRD entry! I will hold the drawing as soon as I have a combination of 25 followers. Let's see how quickly we can get to 25 and someone will win the shoes of their choice for the special little one in their life!

Terri

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

THE FUN PART OF STARTING A BUSINESS

After feeling that the Queen Bee Market was a success, I decided to get "serious" about the baby business. Getting serious means applying for a DBA, getting a tax ID#, opening a business bank account, and numerous other tedious paperwork type activities. The flip side is the creative part of starting a new business. Things like designing a logo for a business card... Designing the hangtag that goes on the shoes...


and the banner for the Etsy shop...



Now those are the fun and exciting parts. My friend at work, Lauren Godlove, is a graphic designer and I love everything she has designed for me. She was able to interpret the feel that I was going for and I'm thrilled with the results. She's also designing a website and woven tags for all of my products. Can't wait to see what she comes up with for the website! It's so exciting to see it all start to come together! I feel so professional and "serious"now!


Terri




Monday, June 7, 2010

ETSY INSPIRATION

I've been thinking about sewing children's coats for next fall/winter. I decided to look on Etsy for some inspiration. If you've never shopped on Etsy, do yourself a favor and try it. The community of talented artisans is incredible. You can find anything that you are looking for, and lots of things that you don't need, but just gotta have. Here are a few of the coats I found while looking for some inspiration.
Grey ruffle coat found here
Red ruffle coat found here
Double breasted coat found here
Bubble bottom coat found herePolka dot coat found here
They're all so fun, aren't they! The detail and craftsmanship (or craftswomanship!) is most definately enough to inspire me to give children's coats a try. Give Etsy a browse and find yourself some inspiration like I did. You won't be disappointed.
Terri

Sunday, June 6, 2010

THE BABIES

Here they are in all their glory! We can't believe how much they are growing each day. Their beaks seem to get longer every hour! Mom is hardly ever there anymore and the babies probably aren't too far off of leaving the nest. We are afraid to get too close as we don't want to startle the babies and cause them to jump or fall out of the nest. I'm guessing that they will certainly be gone by next weekend. It's really been fun for us to watch the whole process of Mother Nature at work. Both my husband and I must each look at the nest half a dozen times each day. Think how much more time I will have for mundane chores like cleaning the house once I'm not spending my time bird watching! Hope you enjoyed your weedend!
Terri

Wednesday, June 2, 2010

IT'S A QUILT

So, I finished the quilt with a week to spare, and here it is. Each block is 10" square and it hangs about 6" over the side of a full size bed. I wasn't planning to make it that big, but somehow it developed a life of it's own and just kept growing. Just in case the front wasn't colorful enough, the polka dot that you see in the upper right hand corner is the flannel backing. I'm quite sure that this is enough color to wake up even the sleepiest of college students! I think everyone needs a special quilt to take with them when they leave home to go to college. Each time my niece wraps herself up in it, I hope she can feel the love that went in to making it for her. Do you have a special quilt that someone has lovingly made for you?
Terri