kt40

 i have been busy this week taking all the photos necessary for displays my etsy shop, then of course deciding to change things, so next week guess what i will doing again. But i finally have set an opening date Thanksgiving weekend (the 28th of november) so even if i only have two items in my shop, it will still be opening.  i need to this or i am afraid my not opening will drag on and on and on. i need to stop hedging around it drop the intense analyzing and agonizing over every single photo or item. time to lighten up and remember that this is going to be fun.

p.s. dear readers, have a great weekend

question

 

i am working on items for my shop and wanted to ask for advice. If you brought something homemade would you like to see a little tag on it that showed the person's logo or would you like the logo (tag) to be hidden a bit 

example: 

hidden: inside the pillow cover.

showing: on backside of pillow cover where the opening is to insert pillow.

i would love to hear from you.

thanks kt

my first dolls

This week I am in another spoonflower design contest doll panels. I shared my drawings a while back on this post and this post and this post. Yesterday the voting began and as luck would have it my fabric arrived too. This morning I sewed the mama doll and nap-time doll. I must say I am soooo happy with the fabric from  spoonflower they did such a nice job!  The colors are vibrant and unlike my photos that follow the tones are all even( i used natural light when i took these photos and it kind-of blew out the colors in places). Jazz held one in her hands to give you a comparison ratio. They are little and sweet and I can't stop fussing with them this morning.

front

back

my logo printed on bottom

follow up to yesterday's post

quick follow up. Esty did respond to my email, very kindly and thoughtfully i might add, they liked the idea of  having a more personal section for info on the the seller not just a thumbnail photo and a place to write a bio up. I think this would be great for the buyers and the sellers both. The man who responded to my request said he was going to send my email and photos to the products committee. i do hope they look into this for the future. thanks for the comments sperlygirl, Deb, pixiedust, and carol

kt

really everyone i mean it, thanks for all the support! It means a lot to me

i will have to do this again in the future.

figuring it all out (trying at least)

this might be a long post (just giving a heads up) i have been trying to set-up an etsy store.....researching pay pal....and frankly wondering what i am doing. not sure when i look into having an on-line shop if etsy is for me. really i just want to have something small something that seems like my own......a place......my place, that excepts checks or money orders(do they still have those?) layaway options.....the types of services i would like a shop to offer.  so i am working on it folks this is going to take longer than i first predicted...besides i still have to make things for the shop, right:)

 If any of you have any insight on any of this i would love the advice.

so i am doing a little giveaway  a beach bag since i made this to be enjoyed in the summertime and i do not see my shop opening this summer i wanted someone to put it to good use.

one side of the bag is a beach fence surrounded by waves...they didn't have fences on the beaches I grew up around but I can remember seeing one on a postcard and I thought it was so romantic. I saw my first real beach fence in Corsica a couple of years ago. I was with Jason and we were hiking along the coastline when I stopped to look at a crooked beach fence. Jason looked back at me asking if I was tired. "No, I'm fine." I replied when really I felt like shouting "I am in love with you and this incredibly romantic, crooked, beach fence!"

the back of this bag is beach glass colors with a little bit of beach sand colors throw-in all woven together because that is how it is after all.

The photo's below are close-ups of the bag.  This bag is surprisingly light but can hold a lot and be roughly set down on the beach. It can be put in the wash and dryer but it does have some silk that can not be ironed on high.

(*not that I make a habit of ironing bags but thought I should add this note) 

It is made well overall but there are some parts, for instance, the blue little pieces of Indian cloth on the end of the straps, that are sewn on with the intent to wear away some day or at least become a little tattered...you may ask "Why?" and I would have to answer that 

"It just felt like the right thing to do at the time." That is how I sew.

The green straps have the fabric's name neatly tucked in them you would never know this because of how I sewed them shut. The fabric is called children's storybook fabric and the beach to me has the magic of a children's storybook it always has and always will, so there it is tucked and stitched secretly into this little beach bag.

It is up for grabs folks just send an email or leave a comment I will pick a winner this Sunday. katy

p.s. the drawing is just for the beach bag the contents inside the bag are just to show what it can hold. i don't think anyone would like my groovy swimsuit

my sewing room

i am feeling the summer love in my sewing room, jasmine made me a pink rose to hang up in my room, iris made me a bright red card to put up on my board and wyatt peeks in through one of my windows when he is taking a break from shooting hoops and will ask "How it is going?"

I finished my first market bag. i added some special Italian ribbon on the straps. the straps when pulled taunt can be long enough to go over your shoulders but I reccomend that you just carry it in your hands and strengthen those biceps, i mean let's be honest, as women don't we already carry enough on our shoulders:) okay... men too.

p.s. i must add that the straps on this bag was an idea i had taken from a little change purse from Nepal that i had received as a gift when i was eight or nine. i loved how the person that made it had put these little triangles on the end of the straps and i was fascinated with how you could simply pull them and the purse would close shut and i said to myself "one day i will make a purse like this." it is 33 years later and here it is (i like keeping my word:))

farmers market bag

i am working on a bag that would work for taking to the market (it will be in my shop)

having fun making patterns

here is one side of the bag see how long it is which i think would be perfect for filling with fruit and veggies. 

i have a tree in the background because this bag means you are skipping paper or plastic.

here is the other side of the bag it is made out of a soft cotton which means if it gets dirty you just spray any stains and throw it in the wash....yes to that!  this is going to be a tough little bag, a work bag, but it's soft feel and look will throw others off. i am just finishing up the straps and when it is all finished i will show how much fruit and veggies it can hold stay tuned:)

kt 

zoom

i wanted to share a little pillow cover i have been working on for my little shop

this little ape truck whizzing past the leaning tower filled with flowers, i have seen this scene in Pisa and in Rome.....okay maybe the flowers weren't really falling out but that part of this design truly makes me happy.

as i sew i start thinking things like this morning's thought "Is my stuff to "girly-girl"?" a term my girls use all the time but then i look again and think "Give me a boy who doesn't love flowers". 

working on my little shop

I have been working on my shop ...just trying to figure out the Etsy site ....boy oh boy there is a lot to figure out, I'm easily getting sidetracked.....what's new:)....but finally came up with a logo

I am choosing to combine my kt40 blog name since the kt stands for me and the 40 is the age I was when I started this blog, which meant really starting to write which then lead to creating again after years of setting this part of me to the side. There is a heart wrapped around it which is how I feel when I make something and my home which is a big part of me always has been and will be. Since what I am choosing to make is items for people's homes it all seemed to make sense....how easily I smile... it only takes a simple logo to make make happy....now I better stop wearing this silly grin and get going, get started on making things to fill up this little shop.

making pillow covers

i am working on opening an esty shop...i think i am going about it in an around about way...or maybe that is just the way i do things. I had a bunch of ideas but then when it came to actually following through on these, my hands seemed to have had other plans. 

"No you are not going to start making pillow covers, there are millions of pillow covers out there." my logical side said in a scolding tone. But my hands won out, they even wrote working on pillow designs on my idea board. 

so i am cutting and designing, throwing caution to the wind and i am starting with little 12 inch pillow covers that make me feel happy to make, mixing old Italian white linen with pieces of my own collection of fabrics.  

and i don't have my shop set up properly yet and i am not sure what else i will offer in it. i have set a goal for the middle of this summer and i have butterflies in my stomach from the excitement and they are finding their way onto my pillow covers.