Hoping to take my own advice ...

At the end of September, I was approached by the editors of Modern Handmade Child to write an article on Simplifying the Holidays for their November/December issue. Modern Handmade Child is an online magazine written by the EtsyKids Street Team. Weeks before the editors asked for article ideas and I "opened my big mouth" and made this suggestion ...

Ways to simplify the holidays and still make them meaningful and memorable. Budgets are tight, and so are schedules. We all want to have a intently meaningful holiday but what do we need to do to obtain it? Surprisingly, it doesn't mean we have to buy our child the latest and greatest toys, blowing our budget with just one purchase, nor does it mean we have to go to every party, bake 1000 cookies plus 10 gingerbread houses to deliver to the neighbors, and buy gifts for every Tom, Dick, Harry, Mary, Sally, and Jane we come in contact with during the year. Share 5 ways to simply the holidays, strategies for cutting back in areas that are only adding to your stress level, not adding to your enjoyment of the season - namely spending quality time with your friends and family.

Either they liked the pitch, or they were desperate for articles. I have yet to hear from the editors if the article was what they expected or not. But it's out there. You'll find the article on page 87-91.

Side note: GR laughed hysterically when he heard what the article was about. Apparently, he doesn't think I'm very qualified ... the holidays are anything but stress free for me. Maybe this year I'll be able to practice what I preach.

It's All About the Details

Well before I opened Tiny Stitches, I wanted a label I could sew onto my handmade baby blankets or burp cloths, signing my name to what has been my signature baby gift for 12 years. I wanted something chic, I wanted something durable and I wanted something I could afford. I tried to talk myself into something I could print on my home computer and iron or sew on to the fabrics ... but I worried about the durability. My stuff gets used, and used a lot - just the way I like it! I needed, okay I wanted, something that would hold up to being washed and washed and washed and washed through multiple babies. I knew I needed - wanted - a woven tag/label.

Over the last two years I've looked on and off at all the woven label possiblities on and off Etsy, trying to find something that would meet my needs. The hard part is I don't need 1000 labels. I couldn't use up 1000 labels in my lifetime, not to mention the huge investment they would be - ouch. There simply isn't that kind of cash laying around these parts!

Earlier this year Heather and I were talking about labels and she sent me the link to an Etsy shop I'd ear marked before, that provided small runs and allowed me to design my own label, using whatever fonts I wanted. Just before we left for St. Louis for Rebecca's birthday, I took the plunge and ordered my very first run of labels! They arrived on the 21st of May and I love them.

I quietly carried one in my pocket for days. I carefully hand sewed them into a friends baby gift (which had be finished for nearly a week ... yes, I was waiting) during the girls softball practice, so I could finally mail them to her.

Now hopefully long after someone gets my blankets and has lost the tag and business card I ship with them and a someone asks who made their blanket, they can look at the corner and say ... Kathleen of Tiny Stitches.

How cute are these!

For all those looking for a girlfriend craft ... I found these linked from another blog on Etsy ... ahh! I love them. Not cheesy country cute, just cute with a great bit of funk added in. I would probably take off the ribbons, or use much wider ribbon simply tied in a knot and cut short, or make equally fun paper leaves ... hummm ... I will probably never make them, but it's so fun to dream isn't it.

Sidenote: it's amazing how after four years of work with the women on the stake level and not in the trenches doing it on the ward level, I'm constantly seeing projects that would "make a great Super Saturday Craft" ...

Life is Full

We're alive here, but just barely. By the end of last week all the kids had sore throats ... some with coughs, others with fevers, others with laryngitis like symptoms. Alex and Sam have definitely been the hardest hit. Alex came down with what seems like croup Friday night. We're still working through is coughing and wheezing, but he's sleeping better than that first night (that was awful!). Sam whispered much of the weekend and although his voice is almost back to normal, his energy level is still not where it typically is, by 5pm he's wiped out!

Last week I spent many hours in the sewing room making baby blankets and pillowcases. My sewing to-do wish list was way more ambitious than I had time for, but I still got lots accomplished, and have more that will wait to get sewn up after the holidays. Saturday's back to back shows, went okay. The jury is still out on whether or not it was worth the vendor fee and time given the limited amount of product I sold.

Since I was up all night with Alex and he would not allow me to put him down, GR went to the first show at the local high school for me. We passed out a few business cards and sold one bundle but it definitely not what we were hoping for. GR and I traded places for the second show. This time I was in Westport with 7 other Etsy sellers from around the KC metro area. It was great to meet the other sellers and see their amazing products, but we just didn't have the traffic there like we had hoped. It was VERY slow and while we all enjoyed meeting one another and putting names and faces with shop names, there were very few sales for everyone involved. I'll have pictures of the show and the awesome trade I made (bundle for necklace!) on Flickr later tonight.





This weekend we also had lots of family visiting. Elspeth and Merryn came in to attend Sunday's Cheif's game, and we were able to have dinner with them on Friday & Sunday night. Friday night the weather was beautiful, so we all gathered around the fire pit to make s'mores! We had a great time - Alex and Merryn were both having s'mores for the first time. To consolidate the number of blinding flashes going off in low light, we took all the pictures with Elspeth's camera, so I'll share pictures once she has a chance to send them to me.

Saturday and Sunday Grandma Mutti and Grandpa Art were in town to attend the annual Primary Program at church. With Alex not feeling well, my back to back shows, a birthday party and practice for Sunday's program, it was really, really nice to have the extra help.

The kids did an amazing job in their program Sunday - oh my goodness all the kids did such an phenomenal job! Each had a speaking part and each of them wrote their parts themselves and memorized them. We were so proud of how well they sang and recited their parts!

After church Rebecca requested spaghetti and meatballs for dinner - since it was a special night after all - and we called Diane, Bob, Elspeth and Merryn to see if we could bring dinner to them. Making dinner meant the whole family had to get involved while Alex slept and Papa iced his back. Sam and Becca helped me make the meatballs, Emily helped Grammie with the rolls, and everyone helped seed one of pomegranate Great Grandfather sent Daddy from his bushes/trees in Nevada for a yummy fruit salad. We've discovered Sam LOVES pomegranates and can easily eat half a pomegranate in one sitting!





And a very happy birthday to my Sis, who is one year older and wiser today!

A great new tutorial

I stumbled across a blog this spring called MAYFLY. A few months ago - right after we returned from our trip to Michigan - she and her family made a long road trip to the beach and she posted pictures of a car organizer she made for her mini-van. Many of us begged her to sell them, or develop a how to tutorial or even just simple dimensions so we could make our own. Well today, she posted a fantastic tutorial and I wanted all my kid carrying, mini-van/SUV/car driving friends to know about it.


I'm off to sew the last few eyeballs on the art smocks before the get shipped off this afternoon! Yes!

Just in time for summer vacation

Back in March, my MIL showed me a super cute apron featured in Family Fun Magazine she's making using these fantastic hand towels from Target. I instantly fell in love! the colors ... the possibilities ... the usefulness ...

It took a number of weeks of chewing on the idea and an invitation Becca got to a birthday party finally pushed me over the edge and turned an idea into a physical product. I could not be happier with the way these little Arts and Craft Apron's turned out!! I finally got a couple listed in my etsy shop and I'm working on a few other designs I hope to make up in the next week or so. Plus I still owe my own kids aprons to use here (I have one down - Becca's is pictured far left, I think Emily wants pink with a turquoise flower and Sam wants orange!)!



Here's what Becca and I put together for her little friend - a craft kit filled with little odds and ends for her to glue, bend, cut, stick to her hearts content, and her very own, Arts and Craft apron.

I'M IN AN ETSY TREASURY!!!!

Okay, so probably only Heather - and maybe GR - will truly feel my excitement and know exactly how HUGE this is, BUT I still had to share, cause I know it will go right over my kids heads!!

.... Someone picked one of my TinyStitches items to be featured in an Etsy Treasury!!! Check it out!!

Etsy Artisians

In an effort to learn more about ETSY and promote my shop, I've spent way too much time on their website, and wanted to share some of the cutest things I've seen!

"playtime sugar cookies"

"felt hair accessories"

"large chenille bunny" (I bought four - one for each of my kids for Easter!)

"super cute animal hats for babies at amazing prices"

"teal and peach spring fairy charm bracelet"

"embellished bobbie pins, pony tail holders, and hair clips"

"Mary had a little lamb embroidered blanket"

"babydoll style dress/shirt for little girl"

soft toddler blocks:
* "bright fleece - fun appliques and texture"
* "small vintage style blocks, set of three"


Oh and there is so much more I could post!

Taking the plunge

*Warning ... this is so much more than you will ever want to know about this topic... but for the sake of family record keeping, I'm telling it. I promise more interesting things about the kids will follow after I get Sam to preschool.*

Wednesday & Thursday, February 21-22

Six weeks or so ago the girls school sent home a flier about at PTA fund raiser that would be held during parent teacher conferences, called a Shoppers Fair. Home based businesses could rent a table for $25 and sell their products. It took GR and I a long time to decide whether or not we could pull this off - but we did and all in all we were pretty successful.

Truthfully, we were both confident and ready to promote his photography. His pictures are excellent, and his prices - affordable, and he gave out 25+ price sheets - and given the traffic at the shoppers fair, that's pretty amazing!

For at least the last three years I've wanted to sell my baby blanket bundles - my standard baby gift that I've been giving new babies for the last nine years. I wish I could say how many babies have gotten my blankets, but I've honestly lost count, the number of blankets I've made must be to 100 by now. (Kristy, I still need to send you directions on how I do these, I haven't forgotten!)

The baby boom is slowing (I only have six friends this year who are pregnant, instead of the 10+) while my stash of blanket fabric isn't getting smaller. I needed to clean house and let others enjoy these cute blankets.

So many things have kept me from doing it ... one of the main ones was finding an avenue to sell them. I wanted a way to sell them online - craft fairs/booths I've never felt would be worth my time - and having watched similar blankets on ebay I knew that wasn't the avenue for me.

This past summer my friend Heather started a shop on a website called ETSY.com - heatherhalesDESIGNS - selling super chic clothes and accessories for babies and toddlers along with unique housewares and other one-of-a-kind designs. And over the last 8 months, she's really well promoting and moving her inventory. Ever since Heather set up shop, I've known that if I ever decided to sell my blankets (and at the time I NEVER thought I would take this step) this was a perfect place to set up shop.

I started preparing to sell my stuff back in January, I knew that if I was going to do this I would do it all the way or not at all. That's just the kind of gal I am. I can't do a sloppy job of something like this to save my life. All the details had to be put together or I wasn't going to put myself out there. I needed a real name (Barb suggested, Tiny Stitches), a logo (created it in Publisher of all places), product tags, shopping bags (packaging), a functioning way to sell online (etsy.com) AND I needed inventory.

Given the demographics at the school, I decided to broaden my focus from just baby blankets to things older kids would also enjoy. So I went with three baby girl blanket bundles, two boy blanket bundles, two nuzzies, and an assortment of themed standard size pillowcases. I sold three pillowcases, one nuzzie, and two baby girl blanket bundles. And I'm hoping to sell an additional 2-3 bundles to women who requested specific bundles. We'll see, my shop has been live with true products since Wednesday night and people are taking a look which is fun to see. I'm hoping with some additional promotion on Mormonchic.com I can start moving my inventory.

www.tinystitches.etsy.com