Some things are worth holding onto . . .

. . . like this jumper. I initially thought it would become a gift . . . but after the number of hours I spent creating it, I think I'll hold onto it. Hopefully, one day, I'll have a daughter to wear it. For now, it's so cute I may just keep it hanging in the closet to adore every now and then.

You can see my initial post on this project HERE.

Fun with Frogs!

I got a request for a frog themed gift for a baby shower. I have completed the stuffed frog and will now move on to create an outfit using a frog appliqué (currently working on the design). Check out this little guy, though. Isn't he adorable? You can make one yourself if you want. The pattern is available on the Lion Brand website. Just click on the "Patterns" link and do a search for "frog."

Criss/Cross Apron #2

I've finished another criss/cross apron for my mom. I may have to make a couple for myself. I love that you don't have to tie anything, you just slip it on and you're ready to bake!

Apron Front


Apron Back


Fabric #1


Fabric #2

Criss/Cross Aprons

My mom asked me if I could make her a couple of aprons similar to her favorite one that was starting to fall apart. I said "of course!" and she let me bring the apron home with me to copy the pattern. Here is apron #1. I bought enough fabric to make a couple of them. The coolest part about this apron, I think, is that you don't have to tie it. The straps criss/cross in the back so you simply slide it on and you're good to go.

Now, time to do some baking?

Apron front


Apron back
Notice the criss/cross straps.


Fabric detail #1


Fabric detail #2

It's been awhile, but alot has been happening

Whew. Finally some time to post here. Since moving across the country, getting Lilly Jean Creations set up online, preparing my booth for my first craft fair . . . this summer has been a busy one for crafting. So, finally I have time to post about it all.

On July 10 and 11 I did my first craft fair in Charlevoix, MI. It was a fun event, the weather cooperated, I met some great people and made a few sales. I learned a bit about setting up a booth at these type of events, what people liked (and bought) and am thinking I might still try to do another one this summer. We'll see though. It's quite a bit of work and for some of the events you have to apply pretty early. Anyhow, here are some pictures of my booth:


Me at my table, trying not to blow away on Sunday :) It got pretty windy a few times. Thankfully, Jim helped create weights for my tent so it didn't blow away.




My clothesline display of the skirt and pant gift sets.


I also had some stuffed crocheted birds, a mobile made of the crocheted birds and some of my fill-in invitations for sale. I thought it was a good mix of product.

My other big project has been setting up the online shop at lillyjean.com and also posting some items on Etsy. I've finally got almost all of my product up online, so check it out at lillyjean.com/shop or on Etsy at www.lillyjean.etsy.com.

I am working on designing some invitations that can be customized and then simply printed from a PDF file that I email. I call them "U-Print" invitations. I'm hoping to have some of these up for sale soon. Here is a sneak peek at one of the designs:



The colors and all of the text would be customized. Each 8.5" x 11" PDF file has one wedding invitation, one response card and one "save the date" card on it. This way, each page printed is equal to one full set for each guest. All you need is a paper cutter, or exacto knife and ruler.

I am still knitting THIS. It's taking me some time, but I'll get it done. Hopefully before the end of the year. I have yet to decide if I should gift it or keep it. We'll see :)

www.lillyjean.com is UP!

The extra time off work paid off. On top of giving me time to sort and pack for our move (one of my most favorite things to do . . . J/K), it gave me the time to get the Lilly Jean website up and running.

The only piece left is to create the online store. I plan to do this once we're in Michigan and hopefully will have something up and ready in mid to late June.

If you visit the site you can sign-up to be notified by e-mail when the online shop is open. For now, take a look and let me know what you think!

The joys of packing

I'm in the middle of packing up all my craft stuff for our big move across the country. This is no easy task, but today I found some items I had forgotten about and thought I would share. All of these items came to me from my great grandmother via my mom.

As a graphic designer I am a sucker for old packaging. It's usually very simple and clean. A few of these items get a bit more detailed, but all of them are pretty special.

Enjoy!














The illustrations on these are fantastic!









I LOVE this old Singer logo. So different from today's version

Baby Expo success!

The Baby Expo was a minor success. I sold enough product to cover my costs for being there, along with a little bit extra. It was a fun event and it was packed the entire day.

I shared my booth/table with Kelly from Bric-a Brac-a. She was selling the cutest crocheted hats. They were made to look like animals, so she had bear hats with ears, lion hats, frog hats with eyes, super cute. She also had some with flowers and large bright colored buttons attached. I wish her lots of luck.

Sitting to my right was Mrs. Claus Sews. She makes the sweetest baby bonnets. They are made from handkerchiefs and after they are used at the baptism or christening of the baby you take out the ribbons, iron the hanky and put it away. Then, it is the "something old" when the baby gets married. She also makes lots of other items, including super cute baby booties.

I had lots of visitors who took my business card so I'm hoping to set up my website this week. I plan to hold off on opening the online shop until we are settle in Michigan as we have to transfer banks and I don't want to start selling with one account and then stop to start selling with another.

We're busy packing and getting ready for the big move. This most likely means a bit of a break from crafting for a bit. I'll be back in touch when we've settled down in Michigan.

Almost ready . . .

I am almost ready for the big day. All that is left to do is get change at the bank for my cash box and pick up some sort of clothesline and clothes pins (more about that in a minute). Below are pics of the finished, packaged product. Oh, got my business cards today and they look great! You can see them in the birdie photos, as I used them as tags.

Gift Sets packaged
I used some clear pouches I had left from a few years back to package the gift sets. I then printed a label I can fill in for size and price.

Onesies & T-shirts packaged
I bought some "favor" bags at Michael's and used them to package the onesies and t-shirts that I'm selling individually. Used the same label treatment on the back for size and pricing info.

Crocheted birdies packaged
Using the same favor bags I packaged the crocheted toys. I used my business cards as the tags and tied the bag shut with a small ribbon. I wrote the price on the back of the card.

Invitations packaged
Unfortunately I wasn't able to finish the letterpress cards. It just became to tedious to do last minute, so I'll pack them up and plan to finish them this summer. I opted instead to print the same design on nice paper on my inkjet printer. They turned out great. I've packaged them in sets of 5 cards. I found the plastic display racks at Staples. They are some sort of mail/desk organizer, but work perfectly for displaying the cards, and they were super cheap.


Table set-up test run
This is how I am envisioning having my table set up. Still undecided about the smaller basket. I plan to string a clothesline to the front of the table and hang some of my pieces on that so people can see them.


Only one more day until showtime!

One Week to Go until Baby Expo . . .

I'm feeling a bit frazzled, but it will be worth it. I'm a busy bee working to finish up everything for the Baby Expo next Saturday. I spent most of Thursday printing the first phase of my letterpress baby announcements and shower invitations. I thought this would be the hardest part of the process because I had to rig the press to hold the paper in a not so standard place, but I got it to work and so far they look great. But, alas, today as I worked to continue printing the second round to be the graphics at the bottom of the design I hit some snags. I had to take a break and luckily I received my clothing tags in the mail today. So, I sewed in a whole bunch of tags and now feel like I'm making steady progress. Whew, on top of all of this we are getting ready to move across the country. Lots going on, but I am sure it will all work itself out in the end and in the meantime I will take breaks to enjoy margaritas (on my way to make one after finishing this post).

Here are some pics of my most recent undertakings:

"Faux" gauge pins holding paper in place on the press. I used self sticking photo corners cut in half and taped to the platen. It worked, so who cares how ridiculous it may look, right?


Prints drying! Yay! I'm 1/3 of the way there. Hope I make it all the way before next Saturday.


Clothing tags! They complete the sets. Now all I have to do is print labels for the clear bags I'm packaging these in.

www.lillyjean.com

I've got a starter page up for the Lilly Jean website. I'm hoping to create a little buzz before the expo. I've got my logo on the vendor page on the expo site that links backs to my site, so hopefully some people will click out of curiosity and then want to stop by my booth.

Anyhow, CLICK HERE to see the starter page. I hope to have more of the site up and running before the expo so keep checking back!

Sneak Peek

I am gearing up for my first expo. A friend of mine organized the first baby expo here in Bozeman this spring and I signed on for a small booth/table. I'm bringing back my Lilly Jean brand name and have re-designed a logo (first image below). I'm working pretty hard and trying not to freak out about how much stuff I want to get done before May 15. Thought I should share a sneak peek of what I've been working on.

Lilly Jean Creatios logo


Onesie sets


I plan to sell these appliqued onesies and pants sets. My "theme" is elephants and birds and I'm working on using fabrics for boys and girls and some fabrics that I think could go boy or girl. I also am hoping to sell some letterpress shower invitations (pics to come later) and some crocheted toys. Hope you enjoy these "sneak peeks."