French writing!

New idea for paintings...using some french writing behind the painting, making it multimedia which I love!! layering things and then painting over the top, kinda like a collage.
Hit half price books to try and find something I can photocopy pages out of, or look on line for some french script, oh ok I like that idea better!! unless I rip the pages out of the book to give it a authentic book look, but would hate to rip apart a book. OK will stick with the good old google and print some things off the net.

Squirrel!

Yes, I am totally distracted by all the pretty things! Agh, I go into the fabric store for a few things and few hours later I come out with pretty new fabrics. Someone please stop me!!!

Seriously, I had to tell myself today that I have enough and that I can not buy anymore fabric until I have started to make!
Tonight I will spend my time organizing the fabrics I have into groupings and will start planning out what I will do with it all.

I need to get my focus back, stick to my plan, make lists and do it! Not to get ahead of myself before I have even started. This is also exciting, but I am committed financially now. I have to make back the money I have put into this. I am now having the worry of what if no one likes what I am making? what if it doesn't sell?

Pep talk time, I won't know unless I get out there and do it!!! Stop being distracted by all the pretty fabrics that are just screaming to be a bird or a snail and just do it!!!
Focus!! Focus!! And PLAN!!!

Time to Paint....

Creative time with the kids is always fun when they are home from school. Today they were desperate to paint, so I thought I would get the stuff out and use this time to paint with them...Fun times!!!

Here is my first little birdie painting....

Bank account....check!

I am on fire! Moving closer and closer to having this set up as a "hobby" business.
Popped down to the BECU today and opened an account just for the business. Will be able to see the comings and goings and that huge profit I will make from my highly successful business...HA haha =D

Oh and to make my banking experience even more personal, the wonderful banker is also a closet crafter dying to get her self set up with Etsy. Oh, and what does she craft...plushies! Small crazy world, so we sat there and talked about our Etsy businesses and crafty stuff for half an hour. Just another sign that I am meant to be doing this!

Now off to finalize the PayPal account, set up my accounting spreadsheets, itemize my expenditures so far, make some predictions and the bla bla bla side of SnuggleBugs should be set up and ready to go...yippie!

wriggle worms...

Another thought....what if I made small versions of the snugglebugs and put them on elastic cord covered with scrunchy fabric, the babes could have them dangle from their stroller and they can be a reach toy? or even a decor object hung around the room? I am thinking 4in made of the same material and only a toy with supervision.

One step closer....

I spent some more time on Etsy today researching the sellers guide plus some online window shopping, gosh there are some talented peoples out there! SO many beautiful things to look at and feel inspired by.
Anyway, Etsy seems pretty fare with its fees. Free to set up shop, 20c to post a product then up to 3.7% selling fee. So really not bad at all. Now off to read more about their policies, I'm getting excited by how real and do-able this is feeling!!!

Signature style...

What will make my designs unique and stand out from all the other owl plushies and baby throws? How do I get them to stand out and not let them just blend in with the crowd?

I have been thinking about this a lot lately. I think its all in the eyes! Some owls out there have one eye bigger than the other, eyes looking like they are drunk, small eyes, big white eyes with small black pupils. Really the list goes on! I am thinking of adding a color ring to my owls/birds/bugs eyes. Sure they will still have the traditional big white round eyes and the small black button center, but I am thinking of incorporating a circle of color, either around the outside of the large white, or placed behind the black button? Trial and error will tell, All I know is I want them big, whimsical and sweet looking.

The fabric is another way of giving each piece its signature style and uniqueness. I would love to make snuggles that are all colors, not just brown with colored wings.

Maybe even the shape? Maybe I could do boy owls with a little more straight up and down appearance while the girl ones have a little more curve to them?

I need to create something that says, that is a snugglebugs plushy. And not just because of the tag!

Another thought.....

Thinking, maybe looking into linen as a possibility for making owls/birds/bugs. Have a whole shabby chic angle as well, using toile and french inspired linen, flour sac look...Oh excited!! Yes I am =)
More of a softer, monochromatic color scheme. Also maybe a little more crinkled and old world feel/look about them. Maybe the Plush's not so stuffed. Linens and Ultra-soft, love the textures.

All the pretty things...

So after a week of laying in bed, recovering from hospital. I have finally hit the fabric stores for real inspiration. It was an amazing feeling of finally touching and holding the fabrics that I have been drooling over online all week. Talk about kid in a candy shop, it was giddying to say the least, especially when nearly everything was 50% off...lord help me and Dave take my wallet, lol!
I had planned on only going in to price, touch and plan. Yeah so not what happened! I walked out with nearly $50 worth of product but thank goodness it was over $100 worth of goodies. I really do love me a bargain and can totally not resist a good deal!

1yard - super-soft snuggle chenille $10/$6
1yard - 100% recycled brown felt $5/$2.50
1yard - wool/poly brown felt $5/$2.50
.5yard - 100% recycled white felt $2.50/$1.50
.5yard - 100% recycled cream felt $2.50/$1.50
4x.5yard - flannel prints $6/$2.50 ($10)

Even the thread was resonably priced - 1200yrds $5.00

All I need to do now is find 1 inch brown buttons and work out the cost for filling per item.

So all in all I think I have enough for 2 snuggle blankets and 16 large owls and we will see what is leftover and let the creative juices flow with the scraps =)

I also picked up 9 5x7 board canvas for my paintings. I am excited to offer a coordinating set of a plush, a one of a kind painting, snuggle blanket, bib, burp cloths. While I will make a number of the these up front, I would love to get into custom work. Where the client sends me a photo of the nursery and I then design the bird/owl/bug set with the nursery colors in mind, that too me sounds soooo fun!!! Who knows, maybe there will even be kids books in the works too? something else to think about, oh the possibilities with this, yes I'm giddy!

Now, time to get started....

Another Crazy adventure.....

OK, I know! Another harebrained idea! I think this is small business idea number three hundred and thirty two...lol! But maybe this is the one that lights my fire and I actually follow through on.....