The Pile is Dwindling

Here are some of the items I have made out of the pile of Scraps.  Some are in the store, some are not.  If you have an interest in anything not in the shop let me know.  This is turning into a full time effort...not only the scraps, but getting the shop up and running as well.  Big learning curve.

The BIG SCRAP Project

One of my goals this year is to clean out all the little bits and pieces of fabric, project parts never completed, and miscellaneous supplies that clutter up my sewing room.
It sounded like a simple project when I conjured up the idea. HUH! Not as simple as I thought.

I got started on Jan.1, 10 and I have accomplished quite a few projects. One of the ideas I had was Little Pockets accessory holders. That is the one I have been working on. The idea started because I had all this patriotic themed material left over from The Baby Marine Project. Out of the leftovers I have made The All American Saddle Bag tote with coordinating Bible Tote, Wristlet Tote, Notebook holder, cigarette case. I combined some of the patriotic material with some worn out blue jeans my neighbor gave me (UGH) but being the pack rat I am, I could not turn them down.

Turning This:

So now folks, tell me what am I going to do with all this stuff I'm making?




                                                                                         Into This....

Off to the Scrap Bin

Today, in addition to starting to take the inside Christmas Decorations down, I'm looking forward to digging through my material bins to find some more interesting material to make stuff with.  I have an order for a boy baby monkey, which I should start.  Do I want to do any of this...well yes and no, but I will regardless so I can keep going with the goal.  The only problem is when I was out shopping on Saturday, I bought at least six more pieces of material!  Go figure!  You never know what I might put in the shop next...so go take a look!

Jan 2, Goals going great so far

2009 Winter Garden

How long will it last? 

Happy New Year's Day!!!!

This year one of my goals is to utilize every scrap of leftover material in my sewing room!  Now that is a big endever because I have many storage tubs of material stached in various locations around the house.  And that is because I can't squeeze one more piece in the sewing room!

So my first project toward this goal is genuine Red Heel sock monkeys.  However, mine are different!  They are completly dressed and many have hair! 

Here is a really cute newborn baby monkey girl with her little monkey doll!  Now, as Rachel Ray would say, " HOW Adorable is That!"

More of my next ingenious projects to follow later...heheheh.

New Year 2010

It has been sooo long since I blogged! I thought it might be a good time to back into the habit with the New Year rapidly approaching! What a good time to put my resolutions into print. That way, just maybe I will stick them out.

Number one on the list is the WEIGHT issue. Do I really want to make a commitment to this one? Not really, however, it has gotten totally out of hand. So there, I said it, admitted to it, and have half-heartedly agreed to do something about it this year. One of my favorite things to do is eat. So this one will be tough. I resolve to try for thirty pounds this year. That is a very attainable goal.

Number two is to check my blog and post weekly. I resolve to update the diet thing and keep updated with the exciting (or not) things going on in my life.

Number three is to try to attend Church, bible study and Homeowners meetings regularly! The past year I have had about 3/4 attendance so this year I resolve to make it at least 15/16 of the time. That's an attendance improvement.

Number four is to open my Etsy shop once again. Life got in the way last time. It was a very busy year.

I think four resolutions is enough. Let's see if I can do it.

How about you? Any resolution you vow to KEEP this year?

Happy New Year 2009

It's hard to believe I have not blogged in so long! I have lost touch since I have not had any product on my Etsy site, and also since I spent all last summer sewing for the grandkids. I visited Portlant in August and took a whole new wardrobe for Alexis and Devin, which I had been sewing since May 2008. I have been burnt out from sewing, but I am getting back into the swing of things...that is if I can leave the Pogo.com site alone. This is a site of games that has come to be ome of my favorites. The games on it, include Scabble and dominoes. I will put a few pics from my Portland trip on for you to see. Sandy

Autumn is Almost Here!

It's past the middle of September already and time keeps ticking by, much to fast. I have been very busy sewing my wardrobe for Autumn, not that we really need warm clothing here in Central Arizona! However, I do enjoy the change of pace from Summer colors and shorts to capri pants and warm colors. My favorites for this time of year are golds, burnt oranges, tans, olive greens, blacks, and most warm colors. I'm not a fan of orange, pumpkin orange that is, and I have just about skipped thinking about Halloween this year although we do have an annual dress up affair to attend....oh, my dear, what shall Brent and I be this year? Year before last we were Mimi and Drew, and we even worn a prize for best couple. Last year we were saloon girl and cowboy. Brent even had a blow up horse he rode in on but we were not favorites. I'm thinking about it, but it may interfere with our planned trip to Columbus, OH, to visit Brent's Dad (I affectionately call him Daddy Paul) and his Step Mom, Lana. We will also visit with his sister, Billi, who is expecting her third child in late October.

Brent is off to Austin the beginning of November and I thought I would take a flight down while he is there and visit my Son, Cameron, who just got a great new job in Houston. He is going to be traveling about eighty percent of the time so I don't know if he will be home, so when he finds out I will decide what I will do....go or not to go, that is the question.

I've finished up a few new wreaths to post on Etsy, but sales are almost nonexistant, and I have not posted yet. Sometimes, I just have to stop crafting for fun, which is what I post on Etsy, and get serious about sewing for me! Well that is about it for now. Dinner is ready to serve, so off I go to the kitchen!

http://SewSassyCreations.com

Dear Friends,

I hope you have a wonderful Memorial Day Holiday! I finally took the plunge and bought my Domain Name for the web. If you type in http://sewsassycreations.com then you will go directly to my Etsy Store.

I am now taking orders for Christmas stockings, customized with names and designs of your choice. Prices begin at $15.00 and go up depending on the materials involved. Also, notice, I have started my line of Christmas and Winter wreaths. The Autum selections were quite popular and I sold one to my chiropractor. The baby wreath also sold and the people who received it as a gift were quite taken by it and were so thrilled that they had an original work of art to hang in the new baby's room.

Please notice lots of changes to the site, especially a list on the right of my Etsy friends, when clicked on will take you directly to their site or blog. All of us artisans on Etsy need and appreciate each and every sale. I think we are each others best customers! However anyone and everyone is invited to window shop (pun hahaha) and purchase!

Have a safe and happy weekend...and remember to thank and memoralize all of those who have sacrificed for each one of us and our wonderful, Land of the free and home of the brave!

Sandy

Gearing up for Christmas

Childs Christmas Tree design T-shirt

Birds of a Feather Christmas Pillow featuring winter Chickadees

Details of Silver and Gold Metalic Dove of Peace Wreath



I have been busy the last week or so and getting into the Christmas Spirit. Every year I create unique gifts for my friends and family and this year is no exception, however, I do believe that my friends and family have had enough of my handmade gifts, so this year I will be posting my items in my Etsy on line store. Here are some pictures or what I have made already. There will be more to come!

Featured Artist: Bottled Up Designs Helps Clean up the Enviornment

My name is Laura Bergman, and I have created Bottled Up Designs, jewelry and gifts handmade from the glass of antique bottles! All of my pieces are 100% handmade from the glass of antique bottles, that I reclaim from old bottle dumps in the woods. I live in a very rural area in the Pennsylvania Amish Country, and in the woods around me there are multiple bottle dumps and old glass scattered everywhere.

One day when I was talking a walk, there was a baby fawn and her mother laying in the leaves. When they caught my scent they were up and away, and where the fawn was laying was the jagged remains of an antique Noxema bottle. I was horrified at what all this old glass could be doing to the wildlife, and after having one of my dogs come home with their feet cut, I began picking up all of these old pieces and working with them. In time, what emerged was Bottled Up Designs.

Being an old bottle collector for 20 years, I can pretty much pick up any remains of a bottle and tell you what is was and how old it is, so I tried to work that knowledge into my pieces. Each piece of Bottled Up Designs comes with The Story of the Glass, where I will detail that for you.

I am thrilled to have created something that is very historical, and am able to reclaim these lovely treasures discarded many, many years ago. I am also happy to present a beautiful product that the glass is not made is some modern factory using more natural resources.

I do have them in a few stores locally, and am really looking to expand my wholesale/consignment business.

Take a look! http://www.bottledupdesigns.etsy.com/

Natures Wreaths

All around the year I collect (harvest and dry) items from the natural world that I find interesting to later incorporate into craft creations. This year I have concentrated on pods from bottle and chilian mesquite trees planted in my yard about five years ago. Pictured above ia a wreath with pumpkin and doggie embroidery surrounded with silk flowers and pods. The little doggies are telling all to meet them in the pumpkin patch for a playful romp!

This wreath is made from almost all pods from both the trees and then sprayed gold.

This centerpiece is a very full piece made from lots and lots of both types pods, silk leaves, candles and ribbons. The bowl in the center is filled with colored water to hold either a beautiful fall bunch of flowers or floating candles.

This is a playful wreath made of pods, aftfully arranged around silk sunflowers and other fall colored silk flowers and stalks.

Here is a bowl of harvested and dried pods. Notice the rich brown color of the outside of the pod and the inner gold of the seeds and pod lining.

I have made these wreaths and centerpieces to adorn and decorate my own home, however, if you see something you really like, convo me at my Etsy shop and I will customize a creation for you.

Abundant Harvest

After every storm there is a calming sunshine. This morning I awoke with the feeling of calm and inspiration awashing my spirit, renewing my soul with hope and the realization of abundant blessings.

For many weeks, a struggle has been a heavy cloud overshadowing my work and creative processes. Work has been a task of persistence rather than an uplifting pleasure of inspired creation. I had planned on pushing ahead with the work of making and listing Christmas season items in the Etsy Store, skipping the Autumn season. Something awakened in my inner being, and the sudden realization that this season is one of the most joyful in which I create overcame my desire to hurry up and start on Christmas! There is a calming feeling that the colors of rust, gold, burnt reds, browns, olive greens, oranges, and yellows, envoke, which could not, and would, not be ignorned by my spirit the year!

I was overcome with a yearning to celebrate the harvest of the year, to experience the harvest joy. I came to the realization that this year has been a struggle, a learning curve, and yes, I had planted seeds, sowed them, hoed them, weeded and nurtured them, and now it was time to reap the benefits and the joy that comes with watching a thing grow and then celebrating the well earned fruit of the spirit.

Because of this renewal, I am offering this Autum line of inspirational gifts. These creations of the season, celebrate the balance of light and darkness, the Autumn Soltice, and the abundance of our personal harvests in our lives.

Please enjoy these gifts to you and may you be blessed with warmth in your home, love in your heart, peace in your soul and joy in your heart.

Sincerely,

Sew Sassy Sandy

Giant Learning Curve

I'm trying really hard to get traffic to my blog, business to my Etsy site, all the while creating new and neat stuff for store inventory. There are sooo many options. The more I look, the more I realize I have so much to learn about all of this blog and ecommerce business. It is almost overwhelming and eventhough I have been computing for years, there is never a standstill in the learning curve of new technology. I imagine the best way to do it, is one small step at a time, a little everyday. One day I will look back and say, "Hey, I was 5o something, and I taught myself how to do that, and good for me." Hopefully all this struggle will pay off in ways I may not be able to conceive at the moment.

Morning Glory Blue, Art Deco Roses

Introducing new products at Sew Sassy Esty, just listed, morning glory blue hand towels and purse. Both feature Art Deco Roses embroidery pattern and vintage 60's (yes 60's!!!) braided trim.

Visit my Etsy shop by clicking on the title to this post for more details and more pictures. Thanks for visiting!

In the Heat of the Arizona Summer

Here are a few of the items I have added to my shop since I have blogged last.

It is hot this time of year in the Phoenix area. Temps are ranging from a mere 89 to about 113 degrees F. and the monsoon season has just begun. The last two nights it has rained and thundered and lightinged (is that really a word? LOL) and in the days, OMGosh, the humidity has been way up in the 35-40 percentile. This is a really good time to stay indoors, in the cool, cool air conditioning, and create! That is exactly what I have been doing: some creating, some brainstorming!

Coming up for the shop is a beautiful rose print and light blue denim tote with super retro trim, some new towels in morning glory blue with art deco roses and retro trim, wreaths for the autum season, plus a new wall hanging with a sewing room theme. I can't wait to finish up and get these super items in the store inventory. It's not too early to think about shopping for the holidays!

Sincerely,

Sandy

Thinking of Autumn

Autumn is just around the corner and here is the first of my autumn wreaths. The is a great way to welcome your fall guests. Hang it on your front door as a wonderful greeting or decorate inside doors or walls with this little cutie. Full details by clicking on the link above.

Spirit of the Zebra Wall Hanging

Inspired by the Serengeti Plains of Africa is a new wall hanging from Sew Sassy Creations called Spirit of the Zebra. I did this particular wall hanging because several of my friends have safari themed rooms. Patti has a Zebra themed bedroom, Judy and Ann both have Safari themed rooms in their homes. The next addition to this collecion is Spirit of the Elephant and will be offered soon.

Sun Flowers

Celebrate Summer with bright and cheery Sun flowers: Towels, pillows, and more to come to decorate your body and your house! Of Course, they are available at http://sewsassycreations.etsy.com!

Tropical Birds in Paradise

This is a beautifully detailed wall hanging of real life tropical birds. The first is a Toucan and the second is a Mexican Parrot. The embroidered birds are set on a background of tafeta material embroidered with delicate palms and accented with permanent water color. The inset of the birds is trimed with cording that matches the outer frame which is made of a tropical print in festive colors. Demensions and other information is available on my Etsy and also may be purchased directly from my site.

I was inspired to make this piece by looking at a picture of my hubby and myself all dressed up for a Hawaiian Party...too bad we were attending the party in Arizona and not Hawaii!