Christmas Dolls: Holly and Jingle

My sister-in-law challenged me to make an ugly Christmas sweater doll for my Etsy shop. I tried to find ugly Christmas sweater fabric, but couldn't.

I did find a funky piece of Christmas fabric that I thought would work, however. (I found the fabric at our fabric warehouse which is closing! Boo!!) Anyway, I set to work on the ugly Christmas sweater dolls. And do you know what?

They turned out too cute to use the term ugly in the title. So, I am now selling Christmas dolls. Meet Holly and Jingle. They were super fun to create and I just love how they turned out.

  If you would like one or a pair or 50! stop on by my Etsy store kiki b omi designs!

kiki b omi Sale!

This great picture is courtesy of the event host Eco Chic.

I had another craft sale that I participated in this weekend. This is the same sale I had a booth at in June where it was freezing cold. This time it ended up raining! The poor people who plan this event!! And even though the weather wasn't real favorable for an outdoor event, the customers were there.

 This show brought a record setting attendance. You just have to love the hearty folks who live in these parts. I convinced my mom to come and help out again even after it was so cold last time. (That is what love is, isn't it!) I promised her it would be warmer. It was, it just was much, much wetter!

 I did pretty much the same set up as last time. Why mess with success? It must have been a good set up since I sold one of the baskets I use for display! I was bummed that the wet weather meant that we ended early and that I didn't get a chance to do much shopping.

I had my eye on a few pieces at booths around me, but I always try not to buy to much when I do a sale. I like to bring home some profit! I still have lots of great items that didn't sell. I have a few up in my Etsy shop already, but hope to get more up in the next week or two. I will make sure to keep you posted.

Stamp Carving

There is an awesome little store in town. They actually started from the indie craft fair that I participated in this last February and also in 2011. They carry lots of awesome handmade goodness from local artists. It is one of the first places I like to shop when looking for a present. In addition to the store, they also offer lots of neat classes. I recently participated in one on rubber stamp carving. This particular class was aimed at small business owners and carving their logo. I have always wanted to try stamp carving and signed right up for the class. I choose to carve a stamp to use for my Etsy store, kiki b omi designs. It was fun to chat with everyone there about their businesses and logos.

I am sure there are lots of great tutorials out there for stamp carving, so I won't get into lots of details. We colored over our image with a soft lead pencil and then rubbed that onto our rubber pad. Then we used a Speed Ball lino cutter to carve out our image. After carving we mounted our rubber image onto a wood block with contact cement. It really wasn't all that complicated of a project. I actually found it very relaxing. And I can see how the more you do it, the better you would get at it. I can't wait to try some other projects now that I know the basics.

Take Your Kids to Work Day

I have been working hard at building up my inventory for another craft show I will be participating in on June 1st. While it is easiest to work while the girls are otherwise occupied, some days I end up working while they are playing around me. And then there are days that I work while they are playing on me! :o) Shhh, don't tell OSHA! And don't tell anyone that some days I still am in my pajamas at lunch time.

I have been adding items to my Etsy shop and will continue to do so as my inventory grows for the show! Feel free to stop in a take a look around!

Roll Reversal

Just for the weekend, Mr. Cherry traded in his working father hat for a stay-at-home dad hat. I headed out the door a little before 7 on Saturday morning to run my booth at a two day craft fair I had entered. And although that is when my day started, there was plenty of preparation that had gone into the fair before that. I had been busy the last week and a half working on some new items to sell at my booth in addition to the ones I have stashed away from previous sales. After packing up all of my wares, Mr. Cherry and the girls helped me set my booth space the previous night. All that I had to do to get ready for the shoppers was put out my items and make my booth space look nice.

I had bought a peg board set up from a friend who also does sales. And let me tell you, it is so nice to have hanging space for displaying my wares. In addition to the peg board walls, I brought along a table, an old step ladder, and a cubed shelving system.

The first day went well with a steady amount of costumers. It is always interesting to see what items end up selling. I had worked hard at making art portfolios the week leading up to the show and I didn't end up selling one. I had some eye spy bags that I had made a long time ago and I ended up almost selling out of them. You just never know.

At five I covered up the items in my booth and headed for home. Mr. Cherry and the girls had a good day and were happy to see me. I joked with Mr. Cherry that I now knew what it felt like to work a 10 hour day like he normally does. I was tired and had a nasty headache.

After attending church the next morning, it as off for day number two. I rearranged my booth a bit before the 11 o'clock opening and then waited for my first sale. Sunday was a lot slower of a day than Saturday had been. I had a feeling that it would be when I stepped out of church and realized it was going to be a nice fall day. Who would want to spend the day in a large arena shopping? I did end up making a few sales, though, and then it was time to pack it up for the weekend.

I got everything stored away in my tubs and out to the car with the exception of the peg board walls. Mr. Cherry brought the girls down and helped me load up the walls and we were home by 5 o'clock.
It was a fun weekend for me and I know that Mr. Cherry enjoyed his time with the girls. He told me his plans were to just take care of the girls and not worry about accomplishing anything else. And he did a good job of it. Even though we both had an enjoyable weekend, I don't think we will be switching rolls permanently.

Fun at the Fest

This past weekend I was able to participate in our area's first indie craft fest. While I was lacking in the body art department in comparison with my fellow sellers, I had a great day. The crowd was thick and steady and willing to spend their money.

When I originally had signed up to enter I was too late and the 40 spots were already filled. However a few vendors backed out and that left an opening for me. We were encouraged to have fun setting up our six by six foot booth space. I had all kinds of ideas rolling around in my head. However, I never sat down and figured out how small a six by six foot area really is. Thankfully Mr Cherry stepped in with his engineering head and helped me figure out an arrangement that would work.

I raided the entire house for creative ways to display my merchandise. A shelf from here, a mirror from there, the crates we are currently using to store Peachy's toys. Needless to say, I have my work cut out for me this week in getting everything back to its normal location. Whenever I do a show I am always amazed by the amount of merchandise I actually have stashed away in our basement. Let me tell you, when it came time to set up, that space was filled and then some.

After a full day of selling I am down some merchandise and up some cash. Just where I wanted to be. If you want to check out what I was selling, you can go over to my Etsy shop, kiki b omi designs, and take a glance.Now I need to work on filling it up again.

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling

I have made many crayon rolls over the past couples of years. While there is something to be said for making the same pattern over and over, in the end, you are making the same pattern over and over. In an effort to spice things up around here, I started to change things up a little bit.

Here is one of my original crayon rolls:

Here is a crayon roll I recently made. It is almost the same, but I decided to add some ric-rac trim. (You know I love me some ric-rac.)

Then I decided to try the ric-rac with some beautiful fall fabrics.

And since Little Peachy has her own crayons now, I decided to make a special roll to accommodate her bigger washable crayons.

And finally, why limit the fun to only crayons? Here is a roll I made for colored pencils.

I am sure these will not be the last of my roll creations, after all, I am on a roll. :)
All of these rolls are currently for sale at my Etsy shop.

Fantastic Frames

Remember when I had my big debut? This weekend I was able to participate in my second sale. I work well on a deadline, which means I was still working on finishing projects a half hour before the sale started. (I have promised myself that I will put an earlier deadline for any future sales.)
I made more embellished children's shirts and onesies, crayon rolls, car caddies, diaper and wipe pouches, decorated flip-flops, baby cakes, Lil' Guy Ties, and decorated frames. Keep an eye on my Facebook site to get your hands on the leftovers! (If you haven't already, click on the like button for "kiki b. omi designs." There may be something special for one of you soon. :o)
Remember these cuties? I had so much fun making them that I decided to do some more.create some more and sell them in my space. Here are some of my favorites from this time around:

If only I could decorate my house as easily and cutely as I decorated these frames.

The Next Step

I have decided to take my creations to the next level. While I am not yet ready to start a true website or open an Etsy shop, I have decided to go a little more public. I will now be displaying my projects on a Facebook page. I would be delighted to have you stop in.

I mixed several of my nick names and came up with kiki b. omi designs. 

I am very excited to see where this new adventure takes me.