Keep Calm? I'm Trying ....

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Sometimes silence is not golden but agonizing. With no steady work this month, I'm becoming a bit panicky. I can't seem to beg for work. No one is responding to my e-mails regarding one area of my business, and there are just a couple of studio orders on the calendar.
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I know better. I know that success comes hard in whatever field one is in. Keep moving forward, keep working with goals in mind, and keep your eyes open for all opportunities and be willing to take what comes. I've done it before, and it's true. However, it's been years since I've been worried about whether I am doing the right thing, and it's hard to be there again. If it wasn't for needing to earn an income, then I'd be set!
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I have a lot to do, if I could just concentrate and not stray from the goal. The holiday fairs begin next month. The first weekend of October, I'm heading to Atlanta for a Fall Fest & Craft Fair that I've been invited to participate in, so I need to sew up ready-to-go items and think on my displays and merchandising.
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Because I have so many "talents" and equipment, I feel responsible to being able to make and embellish anything and everything and can't seem to find my niche right now. There are so many great ideas out there, and I can do nearly all of them but just don't know where to settle.
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The new Somerset Home magazine has some wonderful and smart craft ideas using wood and paper. Maybe if I do something completely different, I could get my fabric brains in order again. However, this isn't the time for that -- I told myself. Now is the time to prepare for the holiday rush, and there will be a rush -- there always is. Boy Scouts motto: Be Prepared! Current pop art advice: Keep Calm and Carry On. Or, in my situation, Keep Calm and Sew Stuff!
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Look! Have you seen these collapsible baskets around? They have been all the rage for the last year or so and can obviously be monogrammed and/or embellished. The vendor I use for blanks just started stocking these. Also, I have the pattern to make the fabric portion of the basket, so one could switch out basket covers according to the time of year or event. .



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The "Keep Calm and Sew Stuff!" embroidery design sewed out well and is very pretty on this linen. I'm going to list the embroidered fabric panel to be created in colors and fabric of your choice in my shop. The design can be ordered in two different sizes. The larger size is 6.5 x 3.5 inches, and the smaller one is almost 4 x 2 inches. And, if you have a shop or sell at the craft fairs, remember that you can order fabrics embellished in nearly any design and sew them up into your own custom items for sale.

The finished pillow cover is listed as well. How else might I use this design, both large and small? Well, embellishing tote bags would be good for crafters to carry projects around in. Let me write that on the to-do list ...

Check, Check, Check ...

I told you, I am whipping out half-finished ideas out of the studio this week and into the calicodaisy etsy shop.

First up, travel shoe bags. I was struggling over what to give my dear friend for her birthday in August. Then I remembered she asked me to put shoe bags on my to-create list for her holiday gift list. So, perfect gift, I thought. I'll make her the prototype set. Aren't the shoes great? For a guy's version, I was thinking of using flannel, and I even have an embroidery design for golf shoes.

Deidre, if you've stopped by, well, now you know what's in the package!



Then, I've been wanting to do some vintage-inspired machine embroidery on flour sack towels for quite a while. However, they just seemed so plain and huge, I wasn't sure how to accentuate them. While perusing the myriad of magazines I go through, I saw a towel with a scalloped border and decided that would do. I meant to add some ric-rac along the top edge, but I didn't have the right color handy. I think it turned it out darling. And, it's big enough to make a chef apron out of. I thought it would be a perfect half apron. Just cut to the proper length and add a casing across the top. Run through a long tie made from some coordinating cotton or a long piece of twill or ribbon, and you have a quickie half apron.



Finally, do you know any Longaberger basket lovers? I've caught up on some reversible basket liners that I've had in the works for a while now. I keep promising one friend I will get to hers, but I've been procrastinating. These are the first covers I made for my own baskets. I love the L-berger baskets and liners, but my budget won't allow for too many of those purchases. I can make reversible liners for nearly any of the L-berger basket styles. If you do have a friend who has a thing for them, please let her know she can get a custom liner from me.

Okay, back to transcribing, then to women's Bible study, then back to the studio if I can stand it.