been busy trying new things!

i've been busy trying to expand my crafting talent! i've made some new little ribbon princess hair clips that i found some free tutorials for and am now trying to figure things out from just pictures. they weren't as hard to make as i thought they would be, but the little pieces are a bit of a pain for my big fingers! my hope though, is that i sell some of them and that way i'll have to make more and will therefore get better at making them!

i'm also trying to move out of my jewelry comfort zone by making things that i wouldn't normally wear, but that i can sell. so far, so good! i'm really trying to build my confidence with all the different crafting things that i do. that's my goal for this year!

these updates and things always sound better in my head...the words never seem to come as easily when i'm actually sitting in front of the computer. oh well, guess it's just further proof that i am not destined to be a writer!

sew much to do!

ha ha! that's my play on words for the day! i have tons of sewing to do and lots of hair clips and jewelry to make. i'm happy that i've cut out all the pieces to get some outfits made for jordan for spring and into summer...now i just need to get them put together!

again this year, she will have more outfits to wear than she really needs. but i'm ok with that since i really do enjoy making things for her. my hope is that she'll let me continue to this for at least a few more years and one day i'll have enough sewing confidence to make her prom dress or homecoming, whichever! seems like a silly dream, but it's my silly dream!

i'm also searching out display options for the upcoming moms club sale. i would like a new, bigger table and have gotten lots of ideas from various websites and social networks that i belong to. busy, busy, busy for the next month...just taking a quick break to update my blog here!

i've also gotten myself a twitter account, since i need more time wasting things to do in front of my computer! so updates will now appear here as well just cause they can!

brand new website for me!

i finally did it...i've opened up my own online store, complete with my own domain and shopping cart feature! woo hoo! i'm so excited about it! i'm still adding items everyday but i just had to take a break to blog really quickly about it.

http://www.chunkybugdesigns.com

check it out! i'll be adding more items in the coming days and weeks in the hopes that i will have a fully loaded store by the end of the month!

the drama in making dresses!

who knew that there would be so much drama in making a couple dresses for jordan? since her birthday is coming up i wanted to make her a couple of really cute tiered peasant dresses with short little sleeves. so i went out and bought the fabric, getting only as much as i thought i needed having figured it out in my head before heading to the store. once i got the fabric home i ironed them and went straight to ripping them into the sizes that i needed...not once thinking that i should put the pattern piece onto the fabric before i rip. that was mistake number one! i had all the pieces laying on the ironing board and went to put the pattern pieces for the sleeves & bodice down on the fabric only to find out that my fabric was too short! well, no big deal i thought, i can just change the bodice and make it into a knot dress that all the sewing moms on cafe mom keep talking about! that was mistake number 2!

i had the bodice pieces all cut out, sewn together with the straps attached to the back and was ready to make the button holes on the front for the straps to go through. having never made button holes with my newer machine (i've had it for a year now as opposed to my old machine that i've had for over 6 years) i read the manual to make sure i was doing things correctly. i had everything set up with a scrap piece of fabric and was ready to go...my machine was not! the fabric just wasn't moving and the needle just kept pushing the thread in and out of the same spot! i drove myself near the edge of insanity just trying to figure out what the hell was going on! there were several moments when i was ready to throw the damn thing out the window and go buy another machine! but somehow my rational emotions took over and i fixed whatever the problem was...even though i'm still not exactly sure what the problem really was! but that whole ordeal left me not wanting to attempt button holes for quite a while so i changed the dress to just have plain straps.

And that's what the final dresses turned out to be...tiered dresses with straps! i think they turned out really cute in the end and i am very pleased with them. i have now moved on to make more clothes for her since i've gotten over the anger with the machine earlier this week! i have tons of fabric left over from last year that's really gonna be so cute for dresses since jordan has already told me that she doesn't want pants...just dresses! hopefully, i'll have no more drama with all the other things i plan on making!