Holiday Sampler

This is the picture that is up in the Gallery at The Sampler. Don't they make my Itsy Bitsy Bags look amazing? One of my favorite parts of participating in The Sampler is seeing my items posted on their blog and in the gallery. Makes me feel just a teeny weeny bit famous!

It's Finally Here!

I finally got my tail in gear last night and started listing stuff in our new Etsy shop She Made It. She Made It is a shop that will feature the work of my sister, sister-in-law, my mom and myself. It will have a variety of items. So far, I have listed some cute Christmas Garlands and Crayon Caddies. Both are great items for the holidays.

My sister Jessica makes cute headbands with elastic bottoms so you don't get that weird sticky-outy thing at the back of your hair when you wear them. She also makes the most adorable baby/doll blankets and travel pillow cases.

My sister-in-law Heidi makes security blankets, but she just recently learned how to crochet, and she's good at it! I'm hoping we'll be able to talk her into adding some crochet projects, too.

My mom Dawna can make just about anything, so we'll see what she comes up with! It will be a fun little shop, and I hope you'll check it out! Of course, my fabulous bags will still be available at BeckyKay Designs!

Bringing back the Jane Bag

A while back, I told my sister that I wasn't going to make my Jane Bag anymore. She immediately protested that she has the Jane Bag, and it's her favorite. She likes the fact that it is smaller than my Bronte Bag, but only has one long strap, rather than two like the Thornfield Bag. The truth is that I like making the Jane Bag. It goes together very quickly and I can afford to sell it for only $20.

So, thanks to my sister's encouragement, I am bringing back the Jane Bag. This version, Proud as a Peacock, will be appearing in my Etsy shop very soon!

Start the Holiday Shopping!

Since my 4 year old doesn't read my blog, I guess it's okay to show off one of his Christmas gifts! I ordered this cute little Indian headdress from WorldofWhimm. Isn't it adorable? He is way into dressing up right now, so this will be perfect! Plus, he told me the other day that he needed some Indian stuff to go with his teepee. I asked him what kind of stuff and he said, "Ummm, a feather?" Blue is his favorite color so I'm very excited.

I also bought him a shark costume for 75% off after Halloween. There's a play kitchen in the basement of my office with his name on it, too. My husband thinks I'm silly for buying him a kitchen, but what is so girly about a kitchen? Everyone eats, right? Besides, it's green and tan, not pink and purple! I want to do some searching for play food on Etsy to go with it.

I love Christmas shopping! I'm still in browsing mode, but plan to start doing some ordering very, very soon!

The Holidays are Starting!

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving! I'm most excited about the fact that I won't have to work for four whole days! We'll be spending Thanksgiving Day with my dad's side of the family. He has eight brothers and sisters, so it will be a huge gathering. We haven't attended this gathering in several years, so I'm looking forward to it. We'll probably end up at Mom and Dad's house in the evening for snacks.

On Friday, we're heading up to Kansas City to visit my husband's family. More food, of course! My brother-in-law is a great cook, so I'm sure our meal on Saturday evening will be wonderful. I'm planning to make my favorite chocolate eclair cake. Very easy and very yummy!

Connor is all about the holidays, although I think he's anxious to get past Thanksgiving so we can get on with Christmas! They had their Thanksgiving "feast" at daycare yesterday. I asked him what they had, and he said there was turkey and mashed potatoes. When I asked him if he ate all that, he said, "No, I just played with them." That's my kid!

Hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving Weekend! And, if you plan to brave the Black Friday sales, be careful and have fun! (I think I'm just going to hide away in my in-laws' house and do some embroidery.)

This weekend's craft show

I have to admit that I was totally disappointed with the results of this weekend's craft show. It was supposed to be a huge show, and there were a lot of booths and a lot of people. Unfortunately, they just weren't buying from our booth! But, I did remember to take booth photos this time!

Years ago when I used to sell scrapbook supplies, my husband made me two of these folding pegboards. They are one of the most useful things I have ever owned!This table holds all the hair accessories that my sister makes. She actually sold quite a few. The banner is one that I made and we just pinned it around the table. (I've made some Christmas ones that will be for sale in our new shop, She Made It, very soon!)These two lovely ladies always get a lot of attention at the shows. Kids are absolutely mesmerized by them. We always wish that we had a video camera in our booth so we could capture all the reactions and comments! I'm a little scared of the one on the left...This rack belongs to my sister and works really well for us. We can adjust the shelves and it comes completely apart for transport. This weekend, we filled it with blankets and pillows.My mom crocheted three of these adorable monkeys for this weekend's show. The other two are in the previous picture. The highlight of the day was when a fellow vendor walked into the booth and wanted to know if the orange monkey was for sale. I assured him it was and ran back to his booth to get money, because he "had to buy it!" He had a pottery booth and said even though he wasn't selling much, finding this monkey made the entire event worthwhile! This was a guy in his thirties, and I loved how thrilled he was with his purchase.

We also had a very nice vendor who sold beautiful jewelry made out of vintage and antique buttons come into our booth and chat for a while. She informed us that the quality of the crowd at this particular show wasn't what it used to be. She also advised us to give a show two years before we give up on it. It was very encouraging to talk to someone who had been doing this for a number of years.

So, we're done with craft shows for this year. I'm going to spend the next few weeks concentrating on my Etsy shops. I'm really hoping for a great Christmas season!

Sampler Contribution Finished!

I just finished stitching up the last Itsy Bitsy Bag for my contribution to the Holiday Sampler. I think they turned out adorable. What do you think?

If I remember correctly, the fabrics are from the Flea Market Fancy and Chocolate Lollipop lines. Instead of using the same fabric for only two or three bags out of my 25 bag contribution, I decided to stick to just a couple fabrics. I found it was much easier to sit down and sew 8-10 of the same bag instead of having to constantly switch thread color and so on.

Again, aren't they cute? The ones in the middle are my favorites!

I've got a few more in my shop available for purchase and several that aren't listed. Just tell me what you're looking for, and I can do custom orders. These little bags are perfect for filling with holiday treats for a fun gift. The bags themselves are just the right size when all you need is your cell phone, id, keys and cash! My sister has even been using hers to carry around her digital camera!