an armless blazer, and a one skein wonder

Here's some (unfinished) pictures of the suit I made for my interview. These were taken over Easter weekend.

And so you get an idea of what I'll look like all corporate pimped out...


This suit DID get finished -- Friday morning, for a 3:00pm interview. Nothing like cutting it close! (Bad pun, I'm sorry.) But, it must have done the trick, because I just accepted a job offer from the company I interviewed with! That's right, I am now officially and gainfully employed.

I'll post some pics of the finished suit when I get back home. I had planned on making a bunch of work clothes as well, but I start working WAY too soon for that (right after finals), so I went out shopping and got some work wardrobe staples. I <3 H&M!

And finally, here's some (admittedly terrible) pictures of my One Skein Wonder. Glampyre rocks!


Just perfect for those cool spring evenings...

recent swap stuff

Here's the instructional part of a sock monkey kit that I'm sending to mata. I had lots of fun putting this together. Click for full-sized versions!

Here are some handmade journals that I sent to ebeth. Bookbinding appeals to my anal precise nature.


And last but not least, here's a tote bag and matching zipper pouch that I made for batgirl. The fabric was a steal in the clearance section of Joann's. It's got beautiful birds and plants all over it...I had a hard time letting it go. But it's now being used as a stylish uniform tote!

no pictures, because I suck

Actually, no pictures because it's late and I'm tired.

BUT I have exciting news. I have a job interview next week! It is for a job that I am very excited about, so send good vibes out to the universe next Friday afternoon.

I have decided that I have nothing to wear for said interview. And I'm broke. So! I'm making a blazer and skirt set. I tore through all the fabric I have here, and found a suitable grey suiting (pun intended). It actually was a piece of my mom's that I used as a tablecloth at the PSU craft fair last year. This will be a much sleeker incarnation. :)

I started at 6 pm and so far:
- The skirt is done except for a zipper (which I don't have here).
- The jacket outside is cut out completely.

I'm going to need to get interfacing this weekend, and cut out the lining, and maybe start assembling. With some diligent work, I should definitely have it completed for the interview. Awesome! I'll post some pictures when there's something exciting to see.

Also:
- I finished my One Skein Wonder (last week). Pictures soon.
- I finally, FINALLY finshed the last details on my Delia's-esque purse (buttons, and bias tape over the inside seams). Pictures in the near future.
- Also, I got the first T-shirt with my Movin' On logo on it! It looks really spiffy. Pictures following.
- I sent off two swap packages yesterday (a tote bag and some hadmade journals). I have two more to send out (a sock monkey kit and a wristlet with Jabba the Hutt on it), and I'm expecting three in return (a needle felting kit, a sewing goodies organizer, and a DOMOKUN cozy for my Dell DJ!!).
- I am getting something awesome in the mail sometime over the next few days...Details later.
- I sold my first item on Etsy! To a 'mystery shopper.' ;) Thanks, by the way! Hopefully this will spurn on a shopping frenzy.

My Etsy shop is finally up and running!

Let's keep our fingers crossed that I actually sell some stuff. :)

craft show results

If my rough calculations (based on how much inventory I had left when I was packing up) are correct, I netted $215 in this year's show! I'm thrilled! The new location was obviously a good choice.

My cut of this is $160, which is going towards two things that I've been meaning to get for a while now...one very silly thing for myself, and one thing for someone else. Considering I only spent $5, because I had almost all the supplies I needed, I consider this to be a huge success. Hooray!

:-D

Spring Arts & Crafts Show 2006

Well, there *would* have been a post about the craft show yesterday, but the internet was down in my building for several hours. How annoying...but it's (obviously) fixed now. :-P

So, without further ado, here's some pictures of my table!

An uninspired shot of the entire table. See the red thing on the right? That's a mohair capelet that I've been trying to sell for the past two years! :-D It is my goal to finally sell the damn thing this time. Wish me luck!
Also, I got lazy and only made one purse to sell. It was a huge pain and really put me off to making more. I prefer jewelry anyway...much less time to make, higher profit margin, and I don't have to use up my fabric!

Here's a closeup of the little earring mountain. I sold 11 pairs of earrings yesterday. I'm always amazed by how fast these go...

Bottlecap necklaces. oooOOOooo. I wish I could come up with a (cheap) better way to display these, but this will have to do. 3 of these went yesterday, as well.

And a shot of my table with some of the others. Once again, I am next to a very interesting woman named Elli. Every year she comes to the show with really unique items, and this year is no exception. Her new medium is recycled junk, like street signs, bottle caps (woot!), water bottles, and other ephemera. She makes really amazing sculptures. I have 2 Elli Groninger originals at home. :)

All in all, I made $75 yesterday...not bad for the first day. Things usually pick up on days two and three.

In other news, regardless of the huge Advanced International Trade exam I have coming up in only 5 hours (eep!), today is a superfantastic day, as the Manolo might say... ;)

not craft related, but...

I need this.

Amazon has it. I may have to gift it to myself once I start making money.

Don't know about the FSM? Do yourself a favor and read about it here.

Look for a post later tonight about the first day of the craft show!

B is for Bottle Caps

I had a fantastic weekend away, which lifted my tarnished spirits immeasurably, which in turn spurned me on with my craft show merchandise. Behold the products of today's labor:

50 pairs of bottlecap earrings, and 15 bottlecap necklaces! [As modeled by my ironing board. I'm running out of flat spaces to put this stuff...]



And here's what the necklaces look like out of a knot and on a neck.


I'm planning on making 5 more necklaces, and about 10 hemp bottlecap bracelets. My selling patterns in the past have led me to this specific product mix. I'm also going to have a few things left over from the last show, and as many bags as I can make before Wednesday. Wish me luck!

For the curious, the above pictures represent $320 worth of merchandise. That's $4 for earrings, and $8 for necklaces. I think I may be underselling myself a tad, but I really want to sell as much as possible to clean out my stash. Eventually I'll be moving, and I don't want to take all this with me! Anything that doesn't sell will probably be posted in my new Etsy store.

Here's some more swap booty, from the Ongoing Wish Swap #8 on Craftster. I asked for Japanese fabric pieces, and boy, was I spoiled! Raindrops sent me 7 different pieces of fabric. See the sushi one? How cute!

Here's my favorite:

There's enough here to make a small purse or clutch. I can't wait to use it!

In other news, my 'One Skein Wonder' is coming along great. All I have left is ribbing on the outside and one sleeve. Maybe a FO tomorrow?