Crazy January!

I can't believe its been almost a month since I last posted! January has flown by... I've been busy replenishing inventory on my website and in the stores that are kind enough to carry my products!

A new store is carrying The Painted Daisy too! Diakonos Designs in lovely historic Stoughton, Wisconsin has my Mix Up Sweaters and arm warmers on display. I provided a selection of sizes and colors to complement Valentine's Day!

My friend Tam and I are already thinking ahead to our spring Open House Show. It's going to be at my house this time...and we are planning a big show for Syttende Mai weekend! There will be a huge crowd in town for the annual Norwegian extravaganza, so we are hoping to take advantage of the timing and advertise the heck out it!

I'm also investigating a few other spring show options, but probably on one or two. I want to be fully prepared for summer craziness! Might be swinging by the windy city again this summer, if I get accepted into a show there, otherwise there is a myriad of other shows around WI I can consider.

Lots of fun spring/summer products are in the works. I'm wrapping up the sweater sewing for this season, and moving on to lovely skirts, some peasant tops and of course, a lovely line of vintage mix clothing for little girls. I hope to have a defined line of items this season, instead of so many willy nilly things. Trying to focus (which is not easy for me!).

Oh, I've added a bunch of quilted purses to my website lately. My mom has been busy busy! Plus, she gave me the most beautiful quilt for Christmas (it's gracing the living room sofa!). I snapped some pics of a few of the quilts that are in use in my house and will post them soon.

Back to the sweatshop!

Post Holiday Update

Hope everyone out there had a fun and relaxing holiday weekend. I have one more small family get together today and then I can thrust myself back into my crafty routine.

In between all the hustle and bustle last week I did have some down time and found the opportunity to mock up some Sweater Pillows! The latest in my obsession to use every little scrap of fabric from my Mix Up Sweaters. I have several done and will get them posted on my website (www.thepainteddaisy.etsy.com) at the end of the week. I am waiting breathlessly for my newest toy to arrive.....Photography Lights!!!

My children gave me a tripod for Christmas and my grandpa gave me the lights. I can't wait to put it all together and hopefully improve the photos I take of my wonderful creations. I've been reading up on eHow and Etsy how to take better photos and am all set to give it a try. Because, let's face it, 80% of the photos on my site right now suck. Despite my previous efforts, the lighting and wall color in my home have not lent themselves to good photo backdrops. I have an area in my upstairs that will soon be converted into my mini studio. Keep your fingers crossed that my photos improve!!

Kids are pleased with their Santa loot. Sofia got all the sporting equipment on her list and Ian is in heaven with his monster Nerf Vulcan and military history documentaries. Both are excited to hit the trails on their new Cross Country Skiis. Now the whole family is outfitted and no more trips to Madison to rent skiis for the kids when we want to take a little trek into the woods.

Quinn (the new dog) LOVED Christmas morning. All the smells! All the crinkly paper! All the candy hiding amongst the crinkly paper on the ground! All the rawhide bones in his stocking! He was super annoying and super cute. Kodiak chilled with her rawhide chips and kept watch over everything. I have cute photos to post when I finally get around to downloading the camara.

Happy Tuesday!

Here's a pic of the new pooch, Quinn. He was quite comfy on the 2 person chair at Granny & Grandpa's! Can you tell Sofia is in love with him already?

As the last weekend before Christmas comes to a close I am happy to say all the cookies are made, presents purchased and only a few handmade items left to finish up. I have a large order from one of the stores that is kind enough to grace their racks with Painted Daisy merchandise and two other stores waiting patiently for me to ship some custom wool bags.

New items are continually in the works...but I can't share just yet because some of them are going to be gifts before they hit the public site here and Etsy!

Cheers to all!!

Oh Hey! I almost forgot. Our family has grown by one recently!!! Please join me in welcoming Quinn. He's a middle-aged (somewhere between 3-5 yrs) Black Lab. Kodiak needed a companion and oooh la la, she's a cougar now, shacking up with a man less than half her mature 12 years! No, really, this was an impulse decision. We found out in passing that there was a super nice, older lab at a local county Human Society shelter. My heart went out to this poor baby that had been there for months and needed a nice family to give him a home. Seems no one wanted to take a chance on an 80 lb male that had a penchant for running and was stronger than an ox, ha ha ha.

Quinn's a lover and great family dog. I think he's going to be a good hunter too...he's got a great nose. So great that he's been caught stealing a little snack from the counter in the past week since he joined the household.

Kodi has adjusted to her new roomie and seems to take it in stride, like everything else, she is an easygoing old lady. One nice perk we didn't know would come from this addition...Kodi has stopped wandering down the block everytime we take her outside. She seems happy to circle the yard with Quinn and come back in with him when called.

I'll add a picture next time!

Whew! Shows are over :-)

Well, I have learned many lessons in the past few months. First, 5 shows in 6 weeks (when you aren't already prepared) is TOO MUCH! Second, never under-estimate how fast your business might grow! Third, plan your work a bit more and stay ahead of the game!!

That last item is my New Year's Resolution. I have a plan in place to help me stay ahead of the curve (I hope) for 2010. I feel blessed that so many wonderful people have been purchasing my handmade goodies and new items are continually in the works. I really want to revisit the wool peacoats for little girls, I have a great idea for a coordinating line of girl's clothing for spring with vintage and new textiles, vintage inspired dresses for women and several new bags I want to prototype this winter. We'll see what makes the cut!

Here's a peek at my newest item...Upcycled sweaters made from two (or more) previous sweaters. I even went crazy with the leftover scraps and have been making bunches of sweater flowers. I'm crazy about the sweater flowers...they ROCK!

The sweater in this pic was made from two ultra soft cashmere sweaters. I made a sweater flower to match this sweater (sold together) because it (the sweater) was just screaming for a flower to decorate its lapel!

Here's more of the lovely sweater flowers that are for sale on my etsy site:

Happy Holidays to all!

New Skirts!!!

Finally...I have all my stuff packed for DIY...everything at Tamara's for her Holiday open house and all that is left to do is pack my overnight bag. Whew!!! I even found time to vacuum my car today :-)

The new skirts will be previewed on Saturday at both DIY in Chicago and at Tamara's here in Stoughton. I love the style and have sold a few to friends already! Denim skirt, cut on the bias so its a nice a-line shape, soft padded elastic waist (by request from Tam :p...but it works!) and fun print fabric at the hemline to add pizazz. Here's a few of the little girl's skirts and a sample of hemline fabrics from the women's skirts. I would have taken more pix but it started to rain!

More Shops, More info, More FUN!

As mentioned this morning, I am a loser when it comes to updating this blog thing! I'm trying to get better and have worked out kinks in sharing files between my PC and laptop to make photo upload easier!

Big news since my last substantial post. I am now in not 2, not 3, but 5 stores. Exciting, but stressful with all the upcoming shows. I'll get a list on here later tonight or tomorrow. For now, check out this great hat that my friend Jess made for Sofia. Her webstore address is: www.littledande.etsy.com awesome hats, snugbugs (which are great, snuggly buntings for babies), scarves, jewelry, baskets and magnetic pretty clips.

Peace-Out!