I will be taking a bit of a hiatus from sewing for a few weeks. This is for a couple of reasons.
First and foremost I have been sewing like a mad woman for the holidays....to the tune of 3 1/2 sets of Pj's (one person only got bottoms), 7 aprons, 3 tops and of course my Christmas dress so my creative brain is a little overloaded.
Secondly I have decided to rearrange my house and turn our downstairs guest bedroom into my studio. The room has a huge closet for storage, great light through most of the day and best of all a door that I can close to shield the world from the mess. What exactly we will do with the part of the loft that is now my studio has yet to be decided . I'm thinking a ''play area''. A place to stash the coloring books for big and little kids alike, a couple of low bookcases for my ever growing novel collection and maybe some comfy pillows and overstuffed chairs perfect for playing board games or curling up with a good book or just a place to chat without having to try and find a little corner of quiet in an otherwise busy house
The third reason for my self imposed hiatus is an unfinished project. Brandy and Danny are getting married in February and her dress hasn't yet made it past the muslin stage. The pattern is very simple and will probably only take a few days to finish once I start it, but I would like to have to final fittings done at least a couple of weeks before the wedding just to give the bride a little bit of piece of mind!
I would like to thank everyone for all of the positive feed back I have received over the last year. Quilted Elephant started out as a vague idea floating around in the back of my head and it has been a long time in the making. All of you have been a wonderful source of support especially one the gray days when I wonder what the heck am I doing and is any actually interested in this crap. My fears are usually put to rest by a ding from my phone letting me know someone has commented or liked something I have posted and then it seems a lot less daunting.
I have set some goals for my self in the coming year that include reaching 50 likes on Facebook, developing a customer base of more than 2 people (although Mila you and Jessica make me smile every time you ask for something new or tell a friend about the wonderful pretty things I make for you.), but for that to work I need help from each and every one of you that likes my status' (the only ones that get a free pass are the guys). My prices are reasonable (or at least I think they are) and it has been my practice in the past to offer deals such as free shipping or 25% on you r first order. For those of you that have ordered from me in the past I will also be offering deals for when your friends like the page. If you can bring me 5 new viewers that means 50% off your next order (Melissa B you are almost there) and if you order total is more than $50 I will pay the shipping.
I plan on starting work on my Spring and Summer collection as soon as Brandy's wedding dress is done, so expect to see new things in that respect in late January and early February. If you have seen something recently that you would like to purchase feel free to let me know. I won't turn down paying customers during my hiatus, I just won't be creating anything new!
I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday and I look forward to hearing from all of you in the new year!
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Sunday, December 16, 2012
Christmas Makes Me Crazy...
Or maybe I should say Christmas makes me crazier than usual! It's only been about 2 and a half weeks since the last time I actually sat down to add to my little creative journal, but it's early Sunday morning and I'm done sleeping probably long before even the dogs will be ready to go outside again and the hubby is still happily cuddled in the blankets sound asleep, and I don't won't to ruin my peace by starting the sewing machine!
I say that Christmas makes me crazy because about 85% of the gifts I'm giving this year are homemade. Great for the recipients as some of them are surprises and in one case someone who has become a HUGE supporter is receiving her first Quilted Elephant Design, but hectic for me. I have been sewing Christmas gifts since shortly after Halloween and it still seems like there is no end in sight! I have been blessed mostly with simple requests and have stumbled over some VERY simple and VERY cute patterns (thank goodness) but I have also encountered a little bit of creative overload not to mention a little bit of actual physical pain from all of the cutting and sewing and hemming and trimming that I've been doing. The mental overload comes from having to many ideas and to much material and ABSOLUTELY not enough time to focus on getting everything done. The physical overload comes from the fact that I sometimes spend 3-5 hours sitting on the floor in my studio cutting out patterns and pinning together garments. My reason for this is I have yet to find a table (short of actually buying another dinning room table) that is big enough to spread out on and also is the right height for me to be able to bend and reach and stretch while I'm working. In a perfect world someday I will have a table that is close to 4'x5' (or larger) stands about counter height and is topped with either tempered glass or sturdy acrylic so that not only can I use it as a cutting table I can use dry erase markers to write on it while I'm working out new designs. Like I said this will only occur in a perfect world where space and money aren't an issue. It does however give me some sort of a goal to strive for.
On another note thank you to everyone who follows the Facebook page. I have had 5 new likes in the last 3 days and lots and lots of sight traffic, now if we could just translate that into people placing orders it would be a great thing, but I knew when I started it would be slow going and that building a customer base would be rough. I have a few devoted customers who LOVE LOVE LOVE every piece they have, and then I have a few others who have never given any feedback regarding their purchases after they have been delivered. All I can hope is that they enjoy what I create for them and that if the truly weren't satisfied they would let me know and give me the chance to either fix it or replace it. I will be starting spring lines again soon (it sneaks up fast in the desert, we'll be done with our 3 weeks of winter soon and it will be back to being sundress weather) and I have a couple of new designs I can't wait to try. I have received a lot of feedback in the past about my sundresses in particular, they make great Easter dresses and Easter is coming early this year, so if you're interested let me know so that I can start looking for the perfect fabric to make your perfect dress!
I think that's about it for my semi-lucid ramblings today. I appreciate your feedback and I look forward to hearing from each and everyone of you.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
I say that Christmas makes me crazy because about 85% of the gifts I'm giving this year are homemade. Great for the recipients as some of them are surprises and in one case someone who has become a HUGE supporter is receiving her first Quilted Elephant Design, but hectic for me. I have been sewing Christmas gifts since shortly after Halloween and it still seems like there is no end in sight! I have been blessed mostly with simple requests and have stumbled over some VERY simple and VERY cute patterns (thank goodness) but I have also encountered a little bit of creative overload not to mention a little bit of actual physical pain from all of the cutting and sewing and hemming and trimming that I've been doing. The mental overload comes from having to many ideas and to much material and ABSOLUTELY not enough time to focus on getting everything done. The physical overload comes from the fact that I sometimes spend 3-5 hours sitting on the floor in my studio cutting out patterns and pinning together garments. My reason for this is I have yet to find a table (short of actually buying another dinning room table) that is big enough to spread out on and also is the right height for me to be able to bend and reach and stretch while I'm working. In a perfect world someday I will have a table that is close to 4'x5' (or larger) stands about counter height and is topped with either tempered glass or sturdy acrylic so that not only can I use it as a cutting table I can use dry erase markers to write on it while I'm working out new designs. Like I said this will only occur in a perfect world where space and money aren't an issue. It does however give me some sort of a goal to strive for.
On another note thank you to everyone who follows the Facebook page. I have had 5 new likes in the last 3 days and lots and lots of sight traffic, now if we could just translate that into people placing orders it would be a great thing, but I knew when I started it would be slow going and that building a customer base would be rough. I have a few devoted customers who LOVE LOVE LOVE every piece they have, and then I have a few others who have never given any feedback regarding their purchases after they have been delivered. All I can hope is that they enjoy what I create for them and that if the truly weren't satisfied they would let me know and give me the chance to either fix it or replace it. I will be starting spring lines again soon (it sneaks up fast in the desert, we'll be done with our 3 weeks of winter soon and it will be back to being sundress weather) and I have a couple of new designs I can't wait to try. I have received a lot of feedback in the past about my sundresses in particular, they make great Easter dresses and Easter is coming early this year, so if you're interested let me know so that I can start looking for the perfect fabric to make your perfect dress!
I think that's about it for my semi-lucid ramblings today. I appreciate your feedback and I look forward to hearing from each and everyone of you.
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
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