Thanks for the mention!

http://sinthesiscm.blogspot.com/2007/11/snug-as-abat-in-hat.html

Apparently Clare Marie likes my red hat - I do, too! Thanks for the mention on your blog! And Lazy Mama readers, do check out her etsy shop for some cool industrial-looking wearable art: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5366036

Upcoming show appearance

So, are you looking for something to do this coming Saturday, Dec. 1st? Why not stop by First Congregational UCC in North Ridgeville, OH, and say hi to Lazy Mama?

That's right, it's my first official craft show under the Lazy Mama name. I'll have a selection of my patterns, of course, as well as pretty much everything that's still available in my etsy shop as of that day. That will include baby gifts, toddler mittens, art quilts, and whatever else I finish this week :)

This craft show is part of the big winter festival/open house/craft extravaganza in North Ridgeville, so there will be plenty to do in addition to buying lots of Lazy goodness! So stop on by, if you're anywhere nearby, and get a jump on all of your holiday festivities.

First Congregational Church
36363 Center Ridge Road (just west of Rt. 83)
North Ridgeville, OH 44039
Dec. 1 - 9am to 4pm

Welcome!

Welcome to The Dusty Attic and The Fine Needle - wonderful quilt shops on the Eastern Shore of Maryland AND the newest Lazy Mama distributors. Thanks for your support, ladies - the patterns will be on their way to you soon!

Me? Famous?

Nope, just my mittens.
http://www.babble.com/CS/blogs/droolicious/archive/2007/11/14/hand-made-mittens-for-the-three-handed-child.aspx

Please note that these are still available in my shop, because nobody's bought them yet. All this great publicity, and not a sausage worth of business so far. Maybe AFTER Thanksgiving ...

I'm on the front page!

http://www.etsy.com/index.php

Hee hee! My plan for world domination is coming together nicely, Pinky.

Look who got in a Storque treasury!

http://www.etsy.com/storque/section/spotlight/article/gift-ideas-little-dudes-age-3-to-7/630/

The page features, among other things:

Those are MY tri-mitts! Yippee yahoo! I can go to bed happy now!

Pattern testing

When Hillary from Wee Wonderfuls asked for volunteers to test a new pattern this weekend, I threw my hand in the proverbial air while shouting "Ooooh! Ohh! Pick me! Pick me!" I guess she heard me, because I spent a couple hours Saturday night trying out her new gnome pattern.


Despite using completely the wrong fabrics, refusing to use pins, completely forgetting to attach Mr. Gnome's unibrow before sewing on the backing, and having to go back and hand-stitch some of the seams I screwed up, they turned out looking pretty spiffy:

Moral of the story: If I can make these suckers look cute at midnight with stash fabrics and a grudge against using pins, ANYONE can make them look cute. Now, go forth and purchase gnome patterns (when she has them available in her shop, which should be soon)!

***Edited to add: http://weewonderfuls.typepad.com/wee_wonderfuls/store/ link to the shop where the gnomes are now available

Ill-conceived

When a clothing project languishes on the shelf, cut out but unsewn, for 6 months, it's a sign.


When I start to work on it and things that should be easy are going horribly wrong, it's a bad sign.


When I have to bribe my daughter with candy to get her to try on the finished outfit, it's a really bad sign (note M&Ms clutched in hand and mouth in photo below).

And when I realize that the outfit not only makes my daughter look like a demented clown, but is also waaaaaay too small on top, it's pretty much par for the course.

This, this is why I don't do garments. Setting in the sleeves, which is pretty much a nightmare on a size 3 toddler shirt, was a piece of cake. Making four buttonholes, which I do by rote every time I make a SWAK blanket for my etsy shop, was a complete clusterf.... um, disaster. The shirt is too short and too tight, the sleeves are too short, and the buttonholes may be the ugliest on the planet. Good thing she hates it, because I'm not thrilled about the idea of her appearing in this in public.

The pants, on the other hand, are pretty cute. All she needs is a hot pink shirt, and she's stylin.

It still counts as feedback,

even if it's about something she got for free.

http://letajoy.com/2007/10/31/

Thanks, Leta! Hope you enjoy it!

Signs I'm raising my daughter right

Raggedy Rodeo Baby Quilt pattern page

Raggedy Rodeo Baby Quilt pattern

Even novice quilters can round up this crib-size quilt in a jiffy – it’s made using precut fringed flannel squares, and you don’t even have to take time to make a separate binding. Don’t worry – those impressive-looking prairie points are drop-dead simple!

This pattern calls for pre-fringed flannel squares - a great way to use up the miscellaneous ends of bolts is to make kits for this quilt!

Approximate finished dimensions: 33"x40"

A person with average sewing skills should be able to finish this project in about three naptimes (six hours).

Photo from the pattern directions - trimming the excess to get perfect prairie points.

Pattern includes illustrated directions and suggestions for additional variations on the project. It is packaged in a resealable plastic bag (6"x9"), ready to hang and sell.

Wholesale price: $4.00/pattern
Suggested retail price: $7-$9, or whatever the market will bear in your area

Free shipping on your first order! Shipping charges for subsequent orders will be the actual charges for USPS Priority Mail to your destination.

I am willing to make free samples to display in your shop, if you are willing to provide the materials. Please contact me for more information on this service.

For more information or to place an order, please contact Gretchen Woods at Lazy Mama Designs: lazymamadesigns (at) yahoo (dot) com.

NEW!! You can also place orders through my shop at etsy.com - just convo me with a request, including the number of patterns you'd like to buy, and I can post a custom listing for you at the wholesale price.

Thank you for your interest, and I hope to hear from you soon!

Congratulations to the contest winner!

Congratulations to fellow etsy seller idiomsyncrasies, the winner of the Show Cleveland Some Love! contest, which ended at noon today. For those of you who didn't win the grand prize, watch your e-mail for a consolation offer from the participating shops. And thanks to all of you who participated!

More customer feedback

Awww ...

Thanks for the photo, frippery!

Holiday shopping

Well, we're a week away from the madness called Holiday Shopping Season, and I'm here with two suggestions on how to make it simpler this year:

1. Make them something. Yes, you can. Trust me, if you can sew a straight seam on a sewing machine, or manage to sew a button on by hand, or even make a basic knit stitch, there's something you can make for just about anybody on your list. See those patterns over on the left side of my blog? Anybody could make those, even people who flunked out of home ec and get a rash when words like "seam allowance" and "purl" come up in conversation.
2. Buy handmade. Sure, you can go to the mall, wade through crowds of people, find out that the size you need isn't available, go online, find out that the size isn't available there, and end up getting the person a gift card that they'll lose or forget who gave it to them. Or, you could go online to someplace like etsy.com, where everything you see is in stock and hand-crafted, and you can pick out a thoughtful and unique gift for pretty much everyone on your list. The first place to visit, of course, is http://lazymamadesigns.etsy.com :)

I'll be the first to admit that for the past few years I've been more interested in getting my shopping DONE than in getting it done right. But this year I've taken the pledge, and I'm going to try to stick to it. Okay, my father-in-law may be getting more gift certificates for ammunition from a local store instead of some artsy t-shirt he'd never wear, but I think I can find something for darn near everyone else.

So check it out, and if you're with me on this, take the pledge at www.buyhandmade.org. And pass the word along to your friends, family, and coworkers - make it a great holiday for them, and for the crafters and artists they'll be helping to support. I'll be posting updates to let you know how my shopping is going - feel free to do the same in the comments section of the posts. Thanks, and happy shopping!

Customer feedback

Another high quality receiving blanket - love the larger size (way more practical than blankets under 35 inches square), love the softness, love the option to convert to nursing cover. Highly recommend these blankets to any parent of a newborn! Thanks so much.

See why I love my "job?"

You've entered already, right?

Because you're running out of time to enter the Show Cleveland Some Love! contest at www.clevelandhandmade.com .

Entries will be accepted until midnight on Friday, Oct. 26th. So if you want a shot at winning a $65 credit to use at any participating Cleveland etsy shop, get a move on!

(and buy lots of stuff while you're checking out the shops in order to enter!)

My plans for world domination continue ...

From a fellow Cleveland etsian:

your blankets were a hit at the showers today! and at the first shower, people said "oh! is that a lazy mama!? i saw those in the contest!" so people are seeing and remembering! sweet!

Hurrah! I'm becoming famous, at least among the hundred or so people who have entered the contest!

Reality check

So I'm standing at the sink, thinking about how much stash yarn I've been using up with my various etsy-related knitting projects (and some as-yet-unreleased personal projects, too). "Wow, I may be able to justify buying some nice new yarn next year!"

Um, yeah. Maybe that would be okay, if "using up so much of my stash" didn't mean "I can now almost fit my stash into three large plastic totes without having to sit on them (much)." Shoot.

Must find more projects to use up acrylic yarn in ugly colors. Anybody need some supplies for the old folks' home?

Check it out - I got a treasury on etsy!

http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=12080

No, I'm not in it - I can't be, because I'm administering it. It's got one item from each of the shops participating in the contest ... hopefully this will get us some extra attention. Not that we're doing too badly - last I heard we had more than 50 entries, and that was just by Friday night!

If you haven't entered yet, you can do so at www.clevelandhandmade.com . Prize is a $65 credit to use at any of the 13 participating shops ... and you know you can find some way to spend that, with all of the cool stuff we have!

Yes, they're real - why do you ask?