Work Work Work

As I've mentioned to most of you independently, my sewing ventures having really been picking up, getting bigger and more exciting as of late.  Business on my etsy site is pretty steady and growing slowly; additionally I'm participating in a huge pre-Christmas sales event called Crafty Wonderland, which is hosted at the Oregon Convention center every year.  Seth and I have gone to the last two, where we've mostly purchased consumable goods (caramels, booze, fancy hot sauces) but where I've also purchased some more gifty type items like lotions and kitschy mugs.  Aside from one woman who hand dyes vintage slips and nightgowns I haven't seen any lingerie there in the past, which I think will make me a good fit and a popular stop.  Anyhow, my days have been busy planning and producing product for the event, which happens Dec. 13-14.  I'll have a week and a half to finish preparing when we return from Thanksgiving, so it's definitely crunch time from now until next Monday, when we board a plane Philadelphia bound.  In fact, the only reason I have time to sit here and type this is because I have to let this lavender dye sit on my head for another half hour at least before I can head to work.

That's right, I said head to work.  As in, go somewhere.  

I started renting a studio to work out of, and it's been an amazingly refreshing experience so far.  I was losing my mind and driving Seth's to the brink working so much from our bedroom.  There were too many days when I didn't leave the house, and falling asleep and waking up looking at my work was stressing me out like nothing else.  Oh, and the distractions.  I found that I can't work if my laundry hamper is full, if the floor needs to be swept, if someone is down in the living room laughing at something funny that I'm missing...

a somewhat unimpressive photo of my new space.  more to come...

So so far, so good.  My time in the new studio has been monumentally productive, and I can actually stop thinking about it when I come home at night.  I'm also excited at having a more professional space because it means that I can invite custom work clients to a fitting and know that it will be a professional experience, which opens me up to a different bracket of clientele.

That's about all for an update right now, aside from the following photos of pretty things (my lovely friends included).

101 to 1 (old news)

I found some old photos from earlier this year that I had meant to make a blog posting of, but forgot.  In the spring Lenny began a stint on a boat out of Sausalito, and Seth and I drove him down to the Bay Area.  We had hoped to surf along the way, but the weather was atrocious and we were on something of a tight schedule.  We did stop during a dry spell at this little trail that runs about a quarter mile downhill from 101 to a beautiful cove, all to ourselves just as it has been the other times we've stopped here.  Watched the surf boom in and were glad that we weren't in it.

Through the Redwoods

Harbor seals, disguising themselves somewhat successfully as rocks.

Surfboard for Alyssa

Seth's latest project was to build a surfboard for me, which came out beautifully!  I've only had one opportunity to ride it thus far, but it was a fantastic transition from the board I've been using.  I thought that, being shorter than the board I had before, it would be more difficult to catch waves but I found it just as easy, and much easier to manage in the water while dodging the waves I wasn't riding.    Hopefully I'll get to take it out to play again tomorrow!

If you look closely, you can see that the resin around the fin boxes perfectly matches my lavender hair!