happy Mardi Gras

i am not missing in action---i am being consumed by my first Mardi Gras!  in between parades, visitors, new friends and life i have been working on some new collages.  i am devoting today to CREATING!  no housework, no tv, no computer.  as you can see i am already breaking that rule.  i got really excited about these and wanted to share....

They are both a mix of machine and hand stitching.  The first one "No Roller Skating on the Ceiling" is made from a vintage shirt and new fabrics.  The left paper is from a pre-fab house catalog (vintage) and the paper on the right is from a pamphlet called "Dancing with Teacher"(also vintage).  My friend Curly gave me the license plate.  I imagine it came from a rockin banana seat bike or out of a box of Sugar Smacks. 

The second collage is called "By Day/By Night".  These are all new fabrics and the patch is vintage.  My story behind this one is she's a stay at home mom- pictured top left doing dishes and other household chores and by night she gets to transform into this top notch bowler.  It's her release from the stress of kids and she's REALLY good at it.  Hence, the League Champion patch.  Her bowling shirt was a tropical print and of course, handmade by her.  There's a pretty good chance her name is  Bea.

skirts, embroidery and more king cake

i decided to make 2 practice skirts before i made my mardi gras skirt in case i messed up.  i found free instructions online that looked pretty simple.  i ended up  altering them a little bit per usual.  the end result was that the skirts are reversible!! this was exciting to me especially since it was a happy accident.  so now i have 3 handmade skirts...not sure if i'll keep the first two or sell them. 

i also finished another embroidery as well as a strawberry king cake from Antoine's.  i'll take a pic of all our king cake babies next time.  I kinda feel like i'm playing the game Life except my babies won't fit in my pink car.  and i don't get to go to millionaire's row at the end.  well....maybe, we'll see.

this collage features a plastic package from a vintage headband.  this was a gift from a friend.  love that people see old garbage and save it for me!  i also used a friendship pin from the forth grade.  yes, i still have all of them and no i'm not a hoarder.  the pic of the guy is a vintage estate sale find- it came from a instructional knitting booklet.  he thinks he's such a player and it cracks me up.

happy new year

a little, uh hummmm, late.  i've been settling into the new year by rearranging my studio once again, feeding my new embroidery addiction and replenishing my inventory.

i've been living in my new city for 6 months now and it's starting to feel like home.  there is still SO much to discover.  it's the kind of city that i think you never get to see everything because really there's that much good stuff going on!  i've been eating my heart out and now need to get my work out back on in a serious way to keep up with all the eating.  i went from the Christmas holiday right into Mardi Gras season and that means King Cake!  it is so delicious and there are so many different ones to try.  and since it's a limited time i have to keep eating to try them all.  ok, so you get that i'm eating ALOT.  onto the crafting....

i woke up super motivated yesterday and have been on a crafting high ever since.  i even went to joann's to get some Mardi Gras costume making supplies.  i started a mask and a headband and got fabric to make a skirt.  i'll post pics as soon as i'm done.

i got several items cut out and ready to sew--i tend to do things like this in bulk- sewing, cutting, etc.   since i was on such a craft high i decided to tackle making a collage clutch since it is an organic flow kinda process.  here's what i do:  i sit down with my HUGE basket of scraps and just start pulling ones i think go together.  i usually end up with a maybe/back up plan pile as well.  then i iron and cut them all to size--well a little bigger actually.  THEN comes the process of laying them out in the order i want to sew them.  i get them sewn and then cut the bag shape.  i pick interior and pocket fabrics and then i'm ready to sew the bag pieces all together.  it's a LONG, fun, creative process that results in a fabulous OOAK bag!  like this one i made this morning.

this particular bag has 17 pieces of fabric sewn together to make the outside.  kinda impressive, huh??

lazy day

i did another embroidery today when i felt i should be sewing.  i was semi-watching pretty woman for the 500th time curled up on my sofa.  my mojo was not in full force so the up and down of sewing was not very appealing to me.  i'm blaming it on the clouds.  i know, i know...i was just bragging about the weather here!  it's till 70 degrees out but helloooooo sun--where are you today?  anyways, this is what i got made!

my office is outside

today is one of the fabulous weather days that i say to myself: THIS is why we moved here!!  always being a northerner has meant snow, cold, wind and oh yeah, more snow for a big part of the year.  today is SUNNY and 70 and so i decided to sit out on my back deck and get some crafting done.

i should be inside sewing but i just can't break away from this gorgeous weather.  so i decided to feed my new crafty addiction and get some embroidery done.  then i realized not only have i been neglecting my etsy shop as i so often do (BAD artist!) but i have several items that need to be photographed.  so i took some pics.  and after this if i don't fall asleep because the perfect weather is making me very very sleepy and i'm longing for a hammock in the worst way---i'd like to once again make a to do list for the new year.  my annual self ass kicking, you can succeed in business list that i try to follow.

here's the embroidery i just finished up...

and here's one from like a month ago done in the same fashion.  both are machine sewn fabric pieces (made from my handbag scraps) that are have vintage collage elements hand embroidered on them.

custom order

i recently got a custom order request for a diaper bag and i got it made today!

i've been asked if i made them before and just never took the idea on so it was nice to finally do it.  it was a bit harder than i expected but i guess all new designs are the first time.  the request for the bag was to NOT be shaped like a diaper bag and have lots of pockets.  once i found the right fabric-the request was for a plaid and i used a vintage find from an the Salvation Army sale last year-i had to really think about functionality.  seeing i don't have kids i had to do a bit of research! 

i ended up doing a version of my Louise Bag...this one is wider on the sides and bottom so it sits up on it's own very easily.  then i did a large pocket the width of the outside front and back that sits almost 3/4 high.  the inside has one really big pocket, a long pocket divided in two and 2 elastic side pockets for bottles.  all the pockets are in different fun fabrics.  i detailed the strap with a black asymmetrical border and 2 orange lines of stitching. 

i am really happy how it came out and just hope she is too!!

market recap

this is REALLY late, i know.....but i've been in Ohio visiting family for an early xmas, getting a new order into Wildcard and working.  oh yeah....working.

i wanted to share pics of the Freret Street market i did on dec. 10th.  holy crap that was 10 days ago.
first off i was busting ass to make stuff.  you never know what will sell and want to have lots of everything!  i managed to get all my tags done in my new stamp and redid my old bags that had a jilsy designs stamp.  i recycled the other side of tags i had pre stamped with my old jilsy stamp for pricing.  recycling makes me happy.

the market was AMAZING!!!  i was so happy it all went off pretty smoothly.  i remembered everything, met up with a friend to help each other with tents and sold LOTS.  thank goodness because it's my only holiday show this year.  my crafty neighbors were SO nice and i don't think i had one cranky customer.  not that i usually do.  except for that one time an old lady fake punched me in the face over a $10 eyeglass case.  seriously.

i was super happy with my set up but am always thinking of new ways to cut down on trips to and from the car.  i'm thinking of investing in a cart from u-line.  they have one that collapses in half that isn't too badly priced.  i had a last minute vision of using big binder rings to displays large bags from the tent bars but couldn't find any at target so i still brought my rolling rack.  i did alter my usual display a little bit by adding a cork board in the center to hang my embroidery and collages on.  since my collages have been in embroidery hoops more lately than canvas and stretchers i couldn't use my old display.

now i need to get serious and look into more markets to apply to for spring to keep this momentum moving forward.

on a side note i made my niece a jacket for her pug.  i was so excited to see if it fit once i got there because i was just looking at a pic and having my sister send me measurements.  it fit pretty well but needs some adjustments for long term wear.  it slid down a bit in the front so i just need to sew that part a little higher.  so freaking cute.