hoopdeedoo: 2009

Friday, December 18, 2009

oh, the holidays...

I LOVE the holidays...all of the shopping, fun music, special time with family...you name it! I am done with all of the custom orders and have now moved on to family gifts. There are probably a lot of things I could be doing to promote my business more during this time, but I want to put my family first, and treat them to some special things...like tissue covers in their favorite colors, little dresses, handknit scarves and hats, a giant blanket for my kids, and aprons of course! I would post pictures but that would spoil the surprise!!

So, HoopDeeDoo is formally taking a rest until January, when there will be new orders to fill and new ideas to implement. A local shop has requested some of my tee dresses for Valentine's Day (!!!), and I have lots of ideas for etsy stuff for next year. I plan to beef up my blogging and take a more aggressive approach to marketing next year, as I am continuing to find my niche. It has been a joy and success thus far. So Merry Christmas, happy crafting, and see you next year!!

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Monday, December 7, 2009

Who knew?

So this has been my official top seller: little tissue packet holders. I got the idea for these from a magazine, but then I tweaked it to make it my own. I added a pocket on the back for hand sanitizer or a lipstick. These are great because they keep your tissues from getting all over your purse. Before I used a tissue cover, after I closed the sticky tab on the tissue packs a few times, it lost its stickiness, and so the tissues would creep out and shred fuzz everywhere. Not anymore!!

I am listing some of these in the shop in groups of 5 - 10, but also can sell them individually, or in larger groups. These are wonderful little gifts for just about any woman you know, but especially for older people. I sold many of these at the craft show to people who were planning to hand them out at the nursing home.

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Friday, December 4, 2009

Updated Shop!

I have updated the shop with some new items, so go check it out! www.hoopdeedoo.etsy.com

Sales have been good, mostly custom orders. I have made 9 hats in the last 12 days. I am taking a knitting break today and tomorrow to save my wrists. Remaining custom orders include two more hats and 7 aprons. All of this is due by Dec. 15, but is totally do-able! I have been approached about more custom orders too...It seems everyone wants that stripey stocking cap in the boy colors. I don't even have a picture of it because I can't keep them in stock! Definitely making more of those to have on hand next year!

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Thursday, November 19, 2009

Breakin' even!!

My first craft show was a success! I had no idea what to expect, but people were definitely in the mood to buy aprons and baby hats this year! I had to stop taking Christmas orders by the end of the first day. WOW!! That completely exceeded my hopes for the show. I already have a page of ideas for next year!

And other big news...10 1/2 weeks into this business, I have officially started making a profit! I have done other businesses before, and fully expected that it would take a while to build it up, because I had no supplies other than my sewing machine and my brain when I started. I was shooting to break even by the end of the year. So I met my goal early and am completely thrilled. Now I am starting to put the leftover inventory from the craft show up on etsy (see the widget at right), so hopefully that will generate even more!

Some goals for next year include: making up more Christmas-themed merchandise for the Christmas craft shows, placing some product in local storefronts, and saving up enough to buy a dress form. A long term goal is to purchase a monogramming machine and offer personalization.
The biggest necessity I have right now is better storage in my office, so probably that will take some precedence in January (Christmas money may help with this!) It looks like I will be filling more orders for my specialty pathology smocks as well, and perhaps that will involve some medical trade shows...well, I'm just brimming with ideas!

But for now, lots o' knitting and sewing to finish existing orders, and making up some handmade gifts for my super-supportive family!

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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

FBC Christmas Spectacular tomorrow!

I'll be at FBC Georgetown for three days at the Christmas Spectacular, which is their fundraiser for the preschool there. It truly is spectacular...there are huge gift baskets on raffle, over 60 merchants, usually 1000 people attending over the weekend. I am thrilled to be a part of it, to support the school, and for this to be my first event as HoopDeeDoo feels just right!

Thursday 11/12 and Friday 11/13, 9-5
Saturday 11/14 9-3
First Baptist Church
Hwy. 29 in Georgetown, one mile west of IH35
fbcchristmas.org

I will be selling children's art aprons among my merchandise. Here's one of them:

Hope to see you there! It will be a fun time and there is great gift shopping!

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Monday, November 9, 2009

Pictures!!

Thanks to my awesome friend Jen, I'll be posting some great product pictures for you! These three items will be for sale at the FBC Christmas Spectacular this Thurs. through Sat. More to come!

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Thursday, November 5, 2009

Thank you to my sweet hubby for helping me with a logo and banner for the etsy shop! I purchased the basic form of this logo from another etsy seller, MommieMadeIt, who makes awesome custom sew-in labels. She made my labels and designed the image, and then Paul altered it for business cards, banners, etc. I am so glad someone else can do all of this stuff for me!

I am getting ready for the FBC Georgetown fundraiser, which will be my first craft show (in this business, anyways). It's Nov. 12-14 from 9-5 on Thu and Fri, and 9-3 on Sat. This is where my kiddos go to preschool, and it is such a wonderful place. I am thrilled to help support it (in a way other than simply paying tuition!) Check out their website at fbcchristmas.org.

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Baby hat

So how cute is this? One of the many custom orders I have been fielding lately. Too busy crafting to blog!

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Sunday, September 20, 2009

priorities...

Really, still preparing for shop launch. But two sick kids and a sick hubby make it hard to do anything but laundry... One of these days they will be able to go back to preschool and I'll get some things done. Please bear with me...

(all two of my readers) :)

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Thursday, September 10, 2009

Name Change

Yup, changed the name. I loved the name "Kindred Spirit" because it really describes how I think of my friends and family, but when setting up my Etsy shop it became clear that I needed a new and more unique name. So...HoopDeeDoo it is! Very silly, but I'm making lots of kids stuff for the shop, so silly is a good thing.

Shop coming soon!!

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Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Launching soon...

Just a brief note to mention that things are really cooking behind the scenes here...

While out of town for a week, suddenly I found myself with 15 custom orders! So the official business will be launching as soon as I can launch my kids into preschool and get some fabric ordered! More details as soon as possible...

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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

it's never to early to start the Christmas projects.

IMG_4857
Originally uploaded by Selzhanik

For my birthday, Mom took me to a quilt store in OKC and bought me some Crazy Eight jelly rolls and charm packs. I really wanted some Christmas decorations that match my house better. So I made a table runner for my front table already, and there's enough left to make either a quilt or a bunch of placemats. I'm leaning toward making the quilt, because this stuff may be too pretty to get all foody.

I saved doing the binding on this thing for another long car ride back from Oklahoma. :)

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Thursday, August 20, 2009

Kindermat Case

Our preschool requires a Kindermat for naptime, for sanitary reasons, with a washable cover. We leave the mat there, but we take the cover home weekly for washing. I didn't want a big puffy sleeping bag thing to lug home every week, because I am already lugging home backpacks, lunchboxes, half-dry art projects, jackets, etc. So I have always used a king-size pillowcase, which never really covered the whole thing, and didn't look cute at all, but was easily stuffed into a backpack and didn't take up the whole washing machine. Not anymore!!

Cuteness can be streamlined.

Also, if I ever need to haul the whole thing home, mat and all, it does this:

To see the photos better, click on the picture to go to flickr. If you are interested in a custom order, post a comment!

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Monday, August 17, 2009

sharing the love

Rachel of p.s. i quilt is doing a giveaway over on her blog.

I'd like to win and I know you would too, so I am sharing. She has a wonderful blog, so if you are a fabric junkie, check it out!

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Saturday, August 15, 2009

"teecycle"

I have been looking for ways to make better use of our hand-me-downs. The Bug is getting kind of long for 2T's but still too skinny for 3Ts. And a lot of the stuff that fits is entirely the wrong season. So what does fit is worn A LOT and gets very icky. This t-shirt had a chocolate stain on it and was too short, therefore worn only around the house. But then I came across this tutorial and couldn't resist. Cut off the bottom, applique over the stain, add a poofy skirt perfect for twirling...took an hour and a half, mostly because it took me so long to figure how to do satin stitch on my new machine.

Sorry for the blurry picture, she was fast! By the way that's drool on the collar, not a forgotten stain. :)

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Friday, August 14, 2009

First tutorial: Simple and Easy Valance

Welcome to my first tutorial! I didn't really plan to make a tutorial today...just making a valance for my daughter's window, and decided to document the process.

1. Measure your window width and how long you want the valance to be. Be sure to include in your length the amount needed for a ruffle at the top and for the rod. My window is about 30" and I wanted a 14" long valance (includes 2" for top ruffle and 3 1/2" for the pocket.)

2. Multiply each of these numbers by 2 and add a seam allowance. 30 x 2 = 60, and 14 x 2 = 28, add 2" to each of those numbers so you can have a 1/2" seam allowance on each of the rectangle's 4 sides, so I will cut my fabric to measure 62" x 30". (Note: doubling the window width gives you a moderately bunchy appearance. If you like super-bunchy, triple it.)

3. Cut your fabric. It just so happened that the twin sheet I chose to use is 64" across, so I just went with that. It was already hemmed! Incidentally, sheets are a great way to get a lot of fabric for a little money.

4. Turn the edges for hemming. I don't like to pin or measure unless I have to, so I went with the "eyeball it and iron" method.

5. Sew the edges. Because I am lazy and went with the sheet, I only had one hem. Score!

6. Fold in half long sides together, and pin. Iron. You may discover your valance is not perfect and that the edges don't match together (especially true when using a pre-hemmed sheet.) It doesn't matter, no one will notice when it is on the window.

7. Measure down from the top the amount you want the ruffle to be. I want 2". Mark with water-soluble pen, or pins, or use the ruler as you go, however you want to do it. I used the highly scientific method of lining my presser foot up with the edge of this row of dots. Now sew with confidence.

8. Now it's time to make the rod pocket. I have one of those flat rods, so my rod pocket will be 3 1/2". If you aren't sure about this measurement, it's better to go a little bigger than smaller. You want the pocket snug, but not miserably tight. Measure down from your last seam and mark as desired. Once again I just eyeballed it with the presser foot.

9. Ta da! You have made a valance. Now put it on the rod and stand back to admire your work. If you want it really poofy, you can add some tissue paper in the pocket made by the fold. At this point you could sew the sides shut if you like, but why bother when it looks so finished already?

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Monday, July 13, 2009

Kindred Spirit Boutique...phase 1

Just reserving this blog name for the future, in hopes of a craft business of the same name. :)

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