Possibility of pairing up cases?

I noticed something on lunch at work today...

I made this clutch first, as a prototype to the design I've made so many of now, and use it as my regular daily purse:

And as you know, I made this tablet case for my Nexus 7" tablet this last weekend, excess space on sides and all:

But when I went to lunch and wanted to take both, this is what I came up with!:

It's pretty amazing how snugly they fit together!! Now, I can't hold the tablet case by just the top mind you, but I can hold it to my side like you would just one or the other, and not have to worry about my clutch sliding out of my hands to hold on to the tablet case!

What do you guys think? What if the clutch was made with the same fabric as the tablet case for a matched set and sold as a pairing?? Would that be something that anyone would like?

Well, off to finish my day of work so I can go home and work on some more sewing!

Craft ya laters!!

Getting Into Tablet Case Making

I have decided to try tablet cases next as a little break from doing my clutches. I have a 7" Nexus tablet myself and have many friends who have various tablets they use and carry with them all over and I finally decided I needed a case of my own!! Though...I didn't quite get the measurements right the first time.

**Disclaimer: I apologize for the pictures being in weird angles/directions. I cannot figure out why Blogger does this or how to fix it**

It looked pretty enough:

I got a nifty fabric for the lining:

And yet, it wasn't quite big enough for my tablet:

At least I have a pouch to store my new business cards in!!

Next, I worked with my friend Airon and guided her through making a tablet case for her 10" Nexus:

Nice, pretty silver dotted fabric for the lining:

A peek inside the front pocket:

 The front pocket is plenty big enough to store your charger, earbuds, etc:

A look at the tablet inside the case:

Look at the awesome!!: 

 I decided to try again in making a case for my tablet and tried a different pattern this time as well as something a little more autumnal:

Best of all, my tablet fits in this case!!:

Although, fits is an understatement. I have about an inch of room to the sides total:

And I have about an inch, inch and a half at the top: 

I'm not too concerned though as I'm trying to decide if I really want to cut this down for a more snug fit or if I want to keep it about this size and maybe add a pocket in the front so I can slip my phone and charger in there or what. It also is enough room that instead of trying to awkwardly handle the case while my tablet is in there, the extra space is a pretty good fingerhold for actually holding the darn thing while walking around!!

There was the question of the knot around the bow though. Per the directions I was using for the pattern, the knot seemed a little big and because of this, it wasn't constricting the bow itself enough to keep the fold lines:

I know it's maybe a little hard to tell the difference, but I did a little hand stitch on the backside of the knot to shrink it down about an inch to keep the middle of the bow tighter and I feel this helped make it look much better:

 I can't wait to use this fabric some more as well as make some more tablet cases!! The next thing I do will definitely be a case in the same style as Airon's case, only, in a fabric similar to my first attempt but with butterflies instead of flowers. I'm so excited to get it done and start using it!!

Craft ya laters!!

First Consignment Display - Easely Amused

Last night, I went down to Easely Amused so that I could (finally) get my displays setup to try to sell in Bridget's shop for my consignment deal. I was so nervous that when I got there and started taking my displays and pieces out of my bag, I was shaking and probably talking too fast and even dropped things 3 times!! I was just so nervous about how she would react to my displays along with just the fact that I was finally getting a professional display in a local shop!!

That slowly eased however as each item I pulled out of my bag, whether it was actual merchandise or display, she loved! She ooh'd at my colorful clutches, she aah'd at my jewelry, she wow'd at my clutch display and she 'neat!'d my single necklace displays I painted. 

I'm not sure exactly what I expected, but I was very excited when she seemed to appreciate every little detail I'd been so particular about and had taken the time to do! From the hot glue on the back of the jewelry boards so she didn't poke herself handling them, to the butterflies I punched and used as my price tags, from the printed out inventory sheet we both got a copy of, to the bags I provided for her to put jewelry or clutches that were sold in with a business card in each one already!

Needless to say, I'm very happy I took the time to make it look as nice as I could as I'm sure if she loved it, anyone else who sees it should like how I set it all up too... right??

If anyone's in the Austin, TX area and likes painting or just having a good time with friends, you should totally check out Easely Amused on South Lamar:

Well, you tell me what you think, yeah? :)

Entire display as I left it and what it will stay for at least a week.

Close-up of bracelet and necklace display using painted art canvas flat board on a wooden art display easel.

Clutch display with the handmade display risers and business cards in their little holder.

Close-up of earring display using painted art canvas flat board on a wooden art display easel.

Main row I'd originally planned for with the exception of shelf change altogether.

Close-up of the colors I painted the single necklace displays.

I used a couple of wrought-iron looking single art display easels for these two.

Far left with necklaces, bracelets and 2 single piece displays above.

Middle display with all my clutches in the shop at the time.

Far right with earrings and 2 single piece displays above.

Card design I ended up going with and printed 230 of. I am plenty stocked!

The single displays before I pained the 3 layers of paint on front along with the paper bags with handles for bagging a sold clutch and chevron paper bags for jewelry sales. The flat canvas boards came in a set of 3 for about $8 and the 2 easel stands I got sitting next to them. The paper pack on the far left is what I used to punch my price tags for the jewelry and clutches as opposed to using those little pre-strung tags or using stickers.

What the canvas boards look like without jewelry and hooks covering. I completely forgot until I got there that her lobby furniture is about the yellow I used as the base layer!! I just got 1/4" screw hooks to screw into the board for hanging jewelry and where the screws stuck out the back, I just hot glued over and did a solid layer of green on the back to cover the print they come with.

For the clutch display, I used the basic idea from Senn & Sons:

I used a LOT of hot glue to make sure all the pieces stayed and were as sturdy as I could get them.

I added a lip to the front so hopefully it would keep a clutch (maybe 2?) from just sliding off the 'shelf'.

I added a bracer piece in the back to give it more stability. The only thing I might change would be adding a base so if I used this type of display at an outdoor show, I can put little beanbags in the bottom to keep it from knocking over.

My first attempt at covering didn't quite work out with some gray cotton... You can see the hot glue lines really easily and it looked bad, worse in person than in the picture.

Found some awesome soft fleece material I never used for its intended project and had enough to cover the front...

...cover the sides with adding a little folded flourish for aesthetics...

...and put a panel in the back to cover the hot glue and hide the secret of how I made this!! Also, this would be visible from the window side and I didn't want it to look messy!

 Well, there you have it. My displays and the entire setup!! What do you guys think?! I took so many pictures because I was just so darn excited about having a public setup that I maybe took too many pictures, but hey, gotta document my progress, right?? I wish I could have taken window pictures of how they'll look from the street, but her sign was up and I didn't want to take off too much of the duct tape she was using to keep it on out there. Maybe I can get some pictures next time I show up.

I'm pretty excited about the change of shelving though and the fact that she hasn't found vendors to fill the other shelves. That means I can at least put another couple clutches at the top of my display (the other shelves were only 15" tall and 4 clutches are 16" tall...) along with maybe making more displays for other pieces to put on the 2nd shelf, at least, until she finds other vendors to showcase. I told Bridget that I was looking into making tablet cases and clutches with a detachable wrist strap and a 2nd whole-side pocket so that you could put your phone or bigger items on the other side in the clutches and she seemed as excited as I am, so those may be next on the plan!!

Now I get to take a break tonight for a show bf and I are going to with friends and then I get back to work tomorrow on the last few clutches I cut fabric for last month and start planning what I want to do with the rest of the fabric I've bought since then. I also need to figure out what I want to put up in a friend's dojo who's going to make a shadowbox display box and I get half of it, 18"x36"!! I've also been advised to check out another local store about 15 minutes from my day job's location that does consignment of local vendors to see if I can setup a consignment deal with them too!! I will definitely keep you guys posted though!!

Craft ya laters!

Looking forward to Halloween 2013!!

It's only July, but yes, I am already getting super excited for projects to work on for this year's Halloween decorations!! I have been scouring Pinterest, joined The Halloween Forum, have been checking out Halloween online websites to see what props and decorations are for sale to see what I can try to mimic, etc.

You guys want to see what I'm looking at so far?? Of course you do!!

So those were my PVC pipe candles last year but this time around, I'll be doing some more in other types of color combinations and maybe fix these guys as well as getting the battery powered tealights:

Aged PVC pipe candles by jimmyzdc

Black PVC pipe candles with ground stakes by Kelly_A

I'm not sure which ones I'll try, or maybe both... but I didn't really think of doing anything but just white last year!! Did you guys know there are COLORED hot glue sticks?! ^_^

I also failed at doing a paper mache hand and copy of a styrofoam head I have....

Not only did I over water down the glue, but I was also only starting with aluminum foil and the wire fingers weren't sticking into the foil (even with super glue/hot glue) so.... a total fail. This year however I want to get significantly better at paper mache so that I can properly do the styrofoam head copies as well as maybe a few of these:

Photo and idea courtesy the Ghosthess

I also want to do a Halloween themed piñata but want to surprise you guys with that one if I manage to do it right! ;)

I want to get a skull and try to make a mold of it like this:

Awesome tutorial for these here

I also need to get some cheap dolls of all kinds for this kinda stuff:

You get the idea.... lol The first two pictures are from Spirit Halloween's website and the 3rd is from what else, the Halloween forum!

I've also got a good idea of how to make a giant spider, some new ghouls and more!! The Halloweenforum.com is a GREAT resource for all things Halloween and a very supportive, friendly bunch if you want to check it out and get some ideas!

I'm so excited!!!! What about you guys? Any of you got any big Halloween plans starting to brew in the noggin?? Please share in the comments!!

Also, before I forget, tomorrow I'll have a post to show you guys what I ended up doing for my display at Easely Amused, a BYOB Paint Class Shop in my town that I'm doing a consignment deal with!! I'm going down there tonight to set it all up and I am SOOO excited!! Check back then!

Craft ya laters!!