What Have I Been Doing Lately

Well, despite the appearance of my rarely posted on blog, I have been doing stuff.

I've redesigned parts of my apron pattern to make them easier to sew and hopefully, make them "flow" better.  Here is a just listed apron made from the new pattern pieces.

If I hadn't told you something was different, you probably wouldn't have noticed.  It still looks similar to the old pattern but the bib and pockets are slightly bigger.

I've been retaking pics of some of the items in my shop to brighten them up.  I've gotten a lot better at editing my pics but the older pics are definitely darker.  Here is one that I've recently changed.  You can see the details better when the pics are brighter.  I still have a few to go.

I'm also working on a skirt that I've pieced together with fabric strips and I'm working on my first quilt top.  I'm not sure if I'm doing it right but we'll see when it's done.  Hopefully, I"m not screwing it up too bad.  The top of the pic shows the quilt top fabrics and the bottom of the pic is the front of the skirt that I'm piecing.  I'll be sure to keep updating my progress on these.  I think I need to add darts to the skirt (I made a muslin skirt using the pattern to check fit) and I've never done darts before.

So, there you go.  We are getting to the end of the school year and things seem to be getting busier.  Seems like there's something everyday.  Summer will be a nice change of pace.

Pictures of my naked cat

Well, time sure flies.  Sometimes, it flies quicker than other times.

I don't have any great crafting news because I've barely worked on anything lately although, I have been working on some bookmark sets for my shop.  (soon to be listed!)

Anyhoo, about 2 weeks ago, I got my cat shaved.  She has alot of cotton candy hair and it mats up really badly.  She's so mean that she won't let me brush her, so I just take her to the vet and they knock her out and shave her.
Believe it or not, it actually makes her nicer.  She's alot more loving and friendly withought all the hair. 
My son says she looks like a hairless rat.

Also, here is a pick of the Asiatic Lillies that I posted about in the previous post.  This was taken when they were in full bloom.  They were very red but the picture makes them look more orange.  Very pretty.

Stuff we did during Spring Break

Spring Break was the week of March 12-16th.  My son was out of school and my husband took the week off.
We stayed home most of the week and had a staycation.  YAY!  I hate spring break trips.  You're in a hurry to leave and a  hurry to get back.  Everything's rushed.

So here's some stuff we did (not rushed :)

I had my birthday on March 10th.

 We all worked in our backyard garden.  We weeded, planted and mulched.  All of the bushes and small plants on the left side of the flower bed are new.  We planted Nadina, Stella D'Oro day lillies, Red Asiatic lillies and white verbena.
So, now we have plants on the left side and right side but the middle is empty.  It's a work in progress.

 The red Asiatic Lillies.  They look orange in this picture but they are red in person.  Very pretty.

 We went to see a production of Young Frankenstien.

 We cleaned up the front porch and replanted containers that had died.

 Got some new fabric - the picture is horrible though.

More new fabric.  I'm working on some new aprons for my shop.

Also, we went to Dallas for the day and went to the Half Price book store, which is always a treat.  We also went to the Ikea store and ate at California Pizza Kitchen - Yumm!

It was a great spring break.  We spent alot of time together and that's always the best part.

Happy Birthday to Me

This past Saturday, March 10th was my 107th birthday.  At least, that's how old I feel.
My sweet family helped me celebrate.

My giant son (who's playing baseball in middle school!! I'm so proud of him!!)

Here are pics of my loot.

My hubby bought me some tulips - which are 1 of my 2 favorite flowers.  I put them in a low vase that would let them droop.  My hubby hates that.  So he tied them up with some ribbon from my presents.  Now they look like they're in bondage. :)

My cake - from a local bakery Chez Bazan - it's yummy AND pretty.

Who put all those stupid candles on my cake?  I wasn't too happy about those.

Anyhoo, the weather was rainy and stormy all day but  I appreciate my family helping me to celebrate.  We saved my birthday dinner until yesterday when the weather had cleared up.  Now, we're having warm temps with some wind and sunny/overcast skies.  Time for some yard work!

On a crafting level, I've ordered some fun new fabric (my addiction is getting worse) and I've completed 3 more half aprons which I will start listing today.  I'm cutting out 4 more aprons with the fun new fabric and hope to start working on them today.  What are you crafting on today?

Happy March 1st!

Hello all my fellow crafters!  Happy March 1st!

Isn't it wonderful?  Spring is almost here.  Actually, it's suppose to be 81 degrees where I live today, so YAY!  We've had a pretty mild winter but I'm still ready for it to be over.  Here's to hoping that this summer isn't 110 degrees everyday.

Anyhoo, in recent happenings, the team that I belong to, EtsyMoms, has an ongoing contest for treasury makers.  Team members are asked to make as many treasuries (featuring EtsyMoms) that they can in a one month period.  The top winners get to choose a prize given away by sponsoring shops.  I've won the award a couple of times, so I thought it was time that I gave back.

The winner who selected my prize was stayhomecupcake.  Her prize was a coin purse from my shop.  She chose the sleeping owl fabric for her little purse.  It came out super cute.

Check out stayhomecupcake's shop - she makes playfood for little ones as well as other fun goodies.  I love this pincushion:

She received her little purse yesterday and in her own words, "it is so stinkin' cute!".
I'm so glad she liked it. 

I'm trying so hard to catch up on listing things in my shop but sometimes it feels like I'm spinning my wheels.  I seem to be getting "not much" accomplished really fast.  Oh well.  At least it's a beautiful day :)

Christmas Pics

Ok.  I've climbed down off of my high horse and finished ranting.
So, I thought I'd share a couple of Christmas pics with you. 

Coming soon - pics of my repainted living room and my new sewing room.

 My newly repainted mantle, decorated with our Christmas stockings.

My sweet son and his sweet dog, Ben and Mac - Christmas 2011.

Now, back to sewing and crafting. 

Customer Service

I have read a lot about poor customer service on the Internet lately.  Large sites who have arbitrary rules that their employees don't seem to understand or know how to follow.  Small sellers, such as etsy sellers, who can't even seem to say "thank you" to their customers, let alone actually send a packing slip or business card with an order.

I've actually written a long rambling rant that I was going to post on my blog but I just don't have the energy to finish it.  But I will share what really got me to thinking about customer service. 
It was this line that one of my dear customers left in my feedback:

"Oh so lovely, received super fast, with a thank you note!!"

This wonderful person, who supports handmade and who has made quite a few purchases on etsy, made a point of saying how wonderful it was to get a thank you note with her purchase.  This leads me to believe that she hasn't gotten very many thank you notes which makes me very sad.

I've shopped on etsy for years and have loved most of my purchases.  But the ones I love best are the ones who at least say thank you.  It's such a small thing but it makes such a BIG difference.  Maybe even the difference on whether or not you'll get future sales.

Maybe we've forgotten what we learned as children and what we all strive to teach our children?
The three most important words are Please and Thank You.

Thoughts?