GwendyLicious Branches Out!

I’m so excited – I’m selling my handmade goodies at another store!  I couldn’t believe it when Andrea of Whimsies in Warren contacted me a few months back, telling me she’d love to stock my items after seeing some of them at Small Circle.  At the time I was still pregnant and I knew it would take a while to sew up a batch of items, but I slowly got working on some inventory and finally dropped them off last week.

It was so nice to meet Andrea.  She has a cute little shop just off Main Street and sells an eclectic array of handmade items.  I love that she paints and restores many of the pieces, working on furniture as customers browse.

I always get a bit nervous about what kind of impression my things will make on people – they are, after all, an extension of me!  And I do realize that people have different tastes.  But I needn’t have worried – Andrea loved everything, and I already have some other ideas in the wings.

cedar sachets, aprons, cup cozies, therapy bags

Her favorite items seemed to be the mancala boards and orange spice wheat therapy bags.  Ironically, she sold one of each the next day!

I also made a drop-off at Small Circle – some wishing wands and dancing ribbons, which seem to be a hit.  Yay!

If you’re in the area stop by and check out the goodies and the wonderful people that own the stores.

*If you don’t live in the area and would love to purchase some of my items, browse my handmade posts and take a gander at GwendyLicious, where I have pictures of many of the things I make.  Then drop me a line!

GwendyLicious Goodies

I’ve had to whip up some inventory for Small Circle since a bunch of my handmade items sold over the holiday season.  I’m psyched that I’m able to make a little profit from my hobby!  The orange spice wheat therapy bags and crayon rolls seem to be the heavy hitters, but some other things are selling here and there and every now and then I like to whip up something new to try and add to their shelves.

First, a batch of therapy bags – these guys are heavy with over two pounds of wheat berries, and they smell heavenly with their spicy orange smell.  I love putting together interesting fabric combinations, though I have to admit I gravitate towards the florals and geometrics.  Making recycled cardboard tags with fabric scraps is a fun little touch.

Another product I thought I’d try are these wishing wands.  I already had the dowels, paint and some felt sheets on hand, but I picked up a few more felt colors, sequins and glitter.  I found it easiest to hand-stitch the sequins on one of the stars, sew them up by machine, hand-stitch sequins on the opposite star, stuff it with fiberfill then hand-stitch the whole thing closed.  I love how they turned out and plan on making more in different colors – especially since the kiddos immediately wanted one for themselves.  The only thing I omitted was the pocket on the back.

After making the Princess and the Pea set for Gwen’s birthday, I made another fabric doll to sell.  Well, someone bought it and I’m delighted to think of a little girl somewhere treasuring that dolly!  I decided to make a couple more fabric dolls.  The picture is a bit dark, but I used the leftover yarn from the baby hats I made recently, so one of the dolls has purple hair – I love it!  I tried some different embellishments, like buttons on the dress and fabric circles in the hair.  After sewing everything up, I’d say the hardest part is figuring out what to do with the face.  I painted Gwen’s but chose to sew on fabric embellishments on the last one.  Embroidery is not my strong suit, so I stuck to painted faces again and love how they turned out – especially the sleeping doll!

And I finally got around to another project on my to-do list: fabric rosettes.  I had already cut up one of my bridesmaid’s skirts to make a scarf and used some more scraps – along with other re-purposed materials – to make some rosettes.  So far I’ve been turing them into pins, but for the smallest rose I made a baby headband for my little girl arriving next month (not soon enough!).  I ordered some elastic from SkinnyElastic by Bitsy Bands on Etsy and plan on cranking out some more in different colors and sizes.

Part of the reason for my mad dash in creating more goodies is that Whimsies, another local shop, contacted me hoping to stock some of my things.  Woo-hoo!  I’m trying not to drive myself too crazy keeping up with crafting, kiddos, homeschooling, all the while lugging around this huge belly and waddling like a penguin. Good times!

*I recently decided to re-vamp my lil’ craft website to showcase some of the more recent items I’ve been working on.  Check ‘er out!

Small Circle

I’m so excited that Small Circle is becoming such a success!  Since my car has been having problems I haven’t made the trip to see the store and have been anxiously awaiting word as to how my products were selling since the grand opening on November 1st.  Apparently my crayon rolls are a big hit – time to make more!

A few other things have sold – a few  cedar sachets, wheat berry heating pack and headband – and I’m hoping some of the other things will go!

My inventory listings expired on Etsy and I haven’t bothered re-listing them since there are listings and selling fees. *sigh*  Why is it so hard to make a buck these days?

If you’re local and have a chance, check out Small Circle located on Wickenden St. in Providence.  The owners are awesome and it sounds like they have lots of neat things on their shelves.  Buy local – buy handmade!  Great time to get some Christmas shopping done.

This Week

This week has been a busy one. 

We brought Josiah into the hospital for minor surgery.  Recently he was diagnosed with both lyme disease and a hernia (both inguinal and umbilical - though the latter should resolve itself on its own).  I was really discouraged at first, but the diagnoses looked really good and Josiah has been the healthiest of all of us (I swear it’s the extended nursing and alternative vaccine schedule).

I didn’t get as emotional as I thought I would since we were waiting for a while and I was more concerned with making sure he was alright.  I had to get all gowned and masked up to take him into the operating room, where I was allowed to hold him while they put him to sleep.  They said he would start to get fidgety once the bubble gum-smelling gas turned nasty, but he just stayed there, getting limp.  Before I knew it, they were taking him off my lap and putting him on the table and I gave him a kiss before they whisked me outside.  I think the hardest part was actually seeing him afterwards – still doped up, and once he finally came to he kept crying that he hurt and his voice was all raspy from the breathing tube.  

He was tired for most of the day and one of his legs was numb so he couldn’t walk - and actually fell over and hit his head!  Poor little guy.  Phil went to work the next day and I told him that he was back to his “usual, slightly annoying self,” saying no and refusing to share with his big sister. 

This kind of experience puts things into perspective… but it still doesn’t make it easy when the kiddos misbehave.  Boy, how I was wishing for more of that medicine to knock them out!  Lately I’ve found myself in tears much of the time, the way the kiddos act when they’re with me.  It’s like they think I’m a joke as a mother, totally ignore me and disobey, and it’s only when I go all apeshit on them (without wanting to, of course) that they sober up and realize I mean business. *sigh*  When Daddy’s home it’s a different story; sure, they’ll misbehave, but they pay attention to him and he doesn’t have to repeat himself a million times a day.  He knew I was having a hard time of it and surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers.

One of the things that drives me absolutely insane is when the kids take out every single toy they own – including baskets of blocks, tiny LEGO pieces, puzzles, pom poms, board games and their many pieces, in addition to the usual dolls and cars and so forth - and throw them around the house.  I try to let them be creative and not get on their case every two seconds about putting things away, but they inevitably fuss and whine when I tell them it’s time to pick up.  Gwen will slump over and say she’s too tired; Josiah will matter-of-factly say, “don’t want to.”  It’s either punish them over and over or do it myself.  I finally decided something had to be done and went on a cleaning spree.  Sure, I’ve simplified in the past, but I got more serious about it and took a lot of toys ‘n’ stuff out of rotation.  I cleaned off their bookshelves, reorganized a big cupboard with games and toys, cleaned up their rooms and rearranged some of the furniture to be more conducive to our new season of homeschool – which we start tomorrow! 

Ah… it feels so nice and clean… I better enjoy it while it lasts. 

I never got around to blueberry-picking this year, which we usually do, but earlier this week we made our annual trip to a nearby orchard for fresh peaches.  If you’ve never had a fresh peach or nectarine, you haven’t really lived!  I’d say fresh peaches are one of my all-time favorite fruits, and the stuff at the store just doesn’t compare.  We filled two bags, overflowing the brims, and have been eating them like crazy.  I’m hoping to make a peach pie and peach shortbread, but I don’t know if we’ll have enough at the rate they’re disappearing!

I met with the lady who’s going to place my handmade items in her store so I’ve been on a sewing rampage.  I’m getting really excited about this venture and hope it works out!  I wanted to have some more samples of my work to show her so I cranked out some crayon rolls, cedar sachets, another clothespin apron and some orange spice therapy bags (I sold the one I had in my Etsy shop!).  Since I’m trying to build up the inventory for her store I haven’t stocked more items online but am hoping to do so in the future. 

Oh – and I got my sew-in labels just in time!  They seemed a bit on the thin side, especially because I can’t fold them, but I love the layered look with fabric scraps.

Coming to a store near you…

Well, as long as you live in RI, that is. 

I’m so excited that my handmade items will be in a brick and motar building by the end of the year!  A lovely lady saw my shop on Etsy and contacted me about making some things for a local, handmade boutique that will be opening in Providence this November.  She gave me an idea of what kind of inventory they’d be looking for so I’ve started whipping up things here and there.

Before I made some of the bigger items I wanted to get some sew-in labels.  I finally placed an order on Etsy and am anxiously awaiting for them to arrive in the mail.  I have some lovely fabric picked out for crayon rolls, clothespin aprons and therapy bags and can’t wait to start sewing them up.

For the smaller things - like cup cozies, headbands and sachets – I decided to make some hang tags.  I browsed around to get some ideas before getting supplies and finally settled on the end result, which I love – cardstock, fabric scraps and pear-shaped safety pins.  My sister – who has her own web design company – helped me with the unique, funky logo and I love it.

And though it wasn’t on my official project list, one of the sewing projects I pinned on Pinterest recently was this changing pad with pocket.  It will be great to tuck in my bag when #3 comes along!  The original tutorial is here, but I liked the version with quilting and wrist strap. 

I used up the last of my cotton chenille, gorgeous bold flower fabric and some vintage ribbon on the wrist strap.  Honestly, the quilting was a pain – for some reason I can’t figure the tension out on my machine; sometimes the bobbin thread shows through, but if I adjust it the tiniest bit the opposite happens. *sigh*  I did get to practice mitered corners with the binding, but the biggest pain was binding around the rounded the edges and having enough to cover the back.  After sewing it all up there were a few spots where the binding wasn’t sewn down, so I just went back over it and actually like the effect because it adds more quilting contrast to the front.  I chose a funky plastic button for the closure; I had been saving it for something special!