Summer Mode

I guess I've been in "Summer Mode" lately...I just haven't been doing too much, it seems! June flew by in an instant, and now here it is, July. I'm sure this month will go just as quickly. I am looking forward to this long July 4th weekend, however. I'm hoping to get caught up with my goodies. My long awaited shipment of fun stuff has still not arrived, but I'm expecting it any day now! In the meantime, I can introduce something new and fun:

Button Bracelets! Isn't it superbly adorable? I just received the supplies yesterday, so I sat right down last night after Pookie's bedtime and made one up. When I ordered the supplies, I didn't realize the buttons were so tiny! But it worked out, and I think it turned out great. What do you think? I'm going to get some more made up as soon as I can, and get them listed in the shop asap. The bracelet measures 7 inches long, and the little buttons are about 1/2 inch in diameter. I'll have to get a pic of it on my wrist, it lays quite nicely!

Who loves Dollar Tree? I know I do..I love to go in there and poke around. I always come out with something. Thanks to a recent tip from my friends at sewforum.com, I found some little cooler lunch bags for, you guessed it, only $1! They're great for embroidering, and perfect for kids..if they get messed up, no biggy, it's only $1 to get another one! So I bought a few of each of the different colors they had - red, green, pink and blue. I finally got around to embroidering one for Pookie, and I think it turned out very nice.

It puckered a little bit, but I can't really expect too much for a buck. Pookie LOVES carrying this thing around. We put her sippy cup in it and took it to Grammy and Pops' this past weekend. I should have jumped on these a bit sooner, as they would have been perfect for kids to take to day camps and VBS and so on. They still might make an appearance in the shop, I haven't fully decided yet.

And last, but certainly not least, I finally produced something I've been wanting to do for a while:

A Fabric Pony-O! The pic here isn't the best, as I did it myself, obviously, but you can still get the idea. It's cute brown and white polka dot fabric with a little white daisy in the middle. These also will be popping up in the shop once I get a few more made (when that elusive shipment comes in). And of course there will be some available that are monogrammed. You knew that one was coming!

Okay, I guess I have been doing a few things here and there, I just feel like I should have more to update! But, as always, stay tuned for more to come! I still have more fun stuff in the works!

Badge Reels, and More Badge Reels

I'm having fun with these, and they seem to be popular! I haven't even put them (aside from the PBR one) in the shop yet because I'm waiting on a large order of blanks. Here are a few I've done recently:

The bottle cap idea came while I was trying to figure out what to do with the TON of beer bottle caps my husband has saved for the past...oh I don't know, at least 5 years. I was working on embroidered badge reels at the time, and kind of had a lightbulb pop up over my head. So, I don't know if there will be much interest, but I think it's fun! It's currently listed in my alter-ego Etsy shop, MooreCrafty. Look for magnets to be making an appearance very soon!


Well we just have to have a UGA badge reel, right? This was a request not only from my friend Sara, but from another coworker as well.

This was a special order from yet another coworker. These girls are loving these things! And I love them. :-)

I know the badge reels don't really fit into the Babies and Kids theme of Sugar Plum Delights, but we're here for mommies and daddies, too. Plus I think they're a lot of fun!

I also had a special order for "Future (insert occupation) " bibs, and I really liked the way they turned out! These will be making an appearance in the shop very soon, just in case anyone else needs them!

So, these things should keep you happy for now. But just know that there are many many more fun things coming soon! I'm just waiting for some shipments to come in...and I can't wait!

Oh wait! I can't believe I almost forgot to mention this! Are you interested in making Embroidered Badge Reels on your own! I've recently published a How-To! "Make Your Own Embroidered Badge Reels", the tutorial, is now available in the shop! The instructions are very simple, there are lots of pictures, and even a source list! And it's cheap! I'll be putting together a "Starter Kit" to go with the tutorial very soon!

Update! Finally!

I decided earlier today that I really needed to update my blog, so this afternoon I started typing. All of a sudden I had written over 800 words, and decided that it was WAY too long to post here, when basically all I was trying to say was that I bought myself a Cuttlebug. It ended up sounding like a column in a magazine, so I thought, what the hay? I'll submit to a magazine or two, and see what happens. You never know.

So, I bought a Cuttlebug! Isn't it cute?

I was looking for a quick and easy way to make nice, professional-looking hangtags for my products when I spotted this little dealie. It can do a lot of things, so I'm very excited about it. I might even try my hand at making cards, I haven't fully decided yet.

Anyway, June has been busy at Sugar Plum Central! I had a lovely vacation that was much needed, and now am back to work. I've been working on a few new things that will be unveiled later this month, hopefully. I'm very excited about them! Orders are coming in left and right for my Monogrammed Initial Key Fobs, and I introduced a new color, Lime Green. Love this one! I think it looks great with the blue thread, but I can do whatever color thread a customer may want.

I've also had orders for my badge reels from people at work. I'm waiting on a shipment of them, so I haven't posted them in the Etsy Shop just yet. But if you're interested, just let me know! Here's a batch I did last week:

They turned out great, even though the picture didn't, and I was told that the recipients loved them! I love hearing that my things make people happy.. :-) In case you can't tell, the pink and blue letters are on a brown background, on black clips.

So that's all for now. I'll try to post a little more regularly, and try to keep things interesting!

The Weekend Wrap Up

I meant to do this yesterday, but it got a little busy at blog central (work). So Tuesdays are okay for weekend updates, right?

Here's what I did on Friday night:

These were done in last minute preparations for the Sketchworks Art Mart that was on Saturday. Look for these items in the shop soon!

So how did it go, you ask? Well the weather did not cooperate, so we didn't get as many people in as we would have liked. We still had fun, though, and we did sell some things to other vendors! And of course we bought some things, too. It was so nice to meet other Etsy sellers and to see their goods in person. Hopefully we'll be able to join in another Sketchworks Art Mart later this fall. (By the way, I think the "Boob Man" bib is my favorite!)

Now we're getting ready for the Kirkwood Spring Fling on May 17th. Be sure to come out and see us! I'll be debuting a couple of new designs, which you will see here first, of course, and all of the things you've seen so far will be there too. Here's a sneak preview of our setup, from the Art Mart:

Hi Katie!

And we might even have cookies again, courtesy of Katie's wonderful hubby (they were so yummy!).

I had been working hard to get lots of stuff made for the Art Mart, so I've been taking a little break the last couple of days. Break's over! Back to the embroidery machine so I have more fun stuff for Kirkwood. Great stuff is coming!

Beer, Badge Clips, and Promos...

They are three unrelated items, and I would have liked to have stuck with the alliteration, just because I think alliteration is cool, but I couldn't think of a B word for promotional items. Can you?

About the beer...there is an awesome seller on Etsy named Tracy, and she has a shop named The Homespun Raven. She makes really nice signs and shelf sitters with fun sayings, and I had to have one. My husband is an avid beer drinker; not just a casual, hey I'm going to have a beer-type drinker, but he really gets into the science of it, and actually brews his own. So I thought, a sign with the famous Ben Franklin quote would be a perfect "just because" gift. Aren't I a swell wife? Here is what Tracy produced for me:

Isn't it great? We just got it in the mail yesterday, and I love it, and more importantly, my hubby loved it too. Go visit her shop! She has lots of great stuff, and does custom orders, too. http://thehomespunraven.etsy.com/.

Badge Clips: In my day-job, I work for a large corporation here in Atlanta, and we're very secure. We have to scan badges to get into each building, and there are lots of them. So that means that everyone here has an id badge, and most likely a badge clip to go with it. They're all pretty boring, at least the ones that I've seen, whether they have a company logo on them, or not. Poking around Etsy, I've seen some pimped up badge reels, so I was like, I could do that, with my embroidery machine (I think it needs a name) by my side. I formulated a plan yesterday while I was at work, then when I got home and after putting Pookie to bed, I went to work. This is the end result:

I like it so much better than the ol Security logo that was on there before. Adds a little splash to something I have to carry around constantly. I'm thinking of offering them to employees, and a few may show up on Etsy, I haven't decided on that one yet.

Promos: Since we have a few markets coming up, I've been trying to think of something good to use as a promotional item. I would love to do magnets that are big enough to put the biz name and website on, but I want a Tecre button machine to do that, and those are expensive (I do have a birthday coming up - hint, hint). I do have my lovely Xyron machine that can make anything into a magnet, so my dream of magnets may still be realized. Still working on that one. Anyway, my new fascination with Mod Podge yielded some fun art clips (clothespins with pretty paper on them), so I wrote the website on there with one my many trusty Sharpies, and glued on a magnet. Ta da!

I love Sharpies. They can do anything. Now we have pretty clothespin magnets with the website on them to giveaway. I need to break out my stash of paper and make up some more. They can't all be purple. Or can they?

Burps Galore!

Does three or four burp cloths qualify as "galore"? Exactly what is the number of something to be considered galore? I'm not sure, but I think this qualifies. I'm on a burp cloth kick. After arguing with my embroidery machine the other night (I won), I was able to produce these lovelies:

I was really happy with the way they turned out. "Hannah" was the first one I did, and I decided that I placed the design too high. "Addison" was a little better, and finally on "Boy" I hit it just right. I think they're super cute with the ribbon on the bottom. And much easier to deal with (in my opinion) than a fabric bottom. In case you're wondering, these do have a purpose. Hannah is expected to arrive May 5 to my friend Heather in Orlando (don't look Heather!), and Addison is my cousins new little girl. The Boy cloth I just thought was a cute design, and it's now available in the shop. I decided to do a bib to match, and they're available as a set:

Bibs are new to me, but I thought this one was easy, so be on the lookout for more bibs popping up! Next I need to order some bloomers/diaper covers and see how those do. I'm also looking for a cute "Girl" definition to go with the "Boy". Any suggestions? Hey wait a minute, this could be a contest...I'll have to think on that one. Stay tuned!

Keychains Galore!

This embroidery thing is pretty cool. I've been playing with my machine and learning more about it every chance I get. I still haven't figured out the whole stabilizer and what to use when, but that may take a while. I also have this software that seems complicated, but everyone says it's the best on the market. Whatever! I want point and click interaction here. But, I'm learning, and in the meantime I can at least monogram! Okay maybe not monogram in the guest towel monogram sort of way, but I'm getting there. Tonight, I produced these lovely objects:



Aren't they cute? I was pretty impressed with myself, I have to admit. My husband said I should have spelled out "ASK" in the picture, but I wanted the pink one in the middle. Anyway, I'll be listing them in the shop this evening. Customers will be able to choose the color of the webbing and the font. I better order more webbing, I'm running low. Yikes! The colors I currently have are fuschia (limited), pink, red, black, turquoise and brown. Font choices are Curlz, Girls Are Weird (the fuschia one), and Tina (red). I'm working on getting more. I LOVE fonts, almost as much as I love fabric, so you can bet I'll have a ton of choices!

Hollypalooza!

I sent my application in yesterday, but they need pictures of some of my creations, so here are some samples of what I've done!

Purple Diaper Bag

Little girl's Strawberry Shortcake Purse

Lil' Cowpoke Crayon Roll

"Bugs" Tag Blanket

Kirkwood Spring Fling Booth

Blue Stripes Tote/Diaper Bag

Strawberry Shortcake "Diaper Wallet"

Buckaroo Tag Blanket

Bright Flowers Tag Blanket

These are examples of what will be available if I'm accepted to Hollypalooza. If there are any questions, please let me know!