Quarterly Donation total and shop news

The total tally for USO donation has been tallied and check is in the mail. We came in a respectable total of $53.00. Sales are down considerably from last year, not sure if all the changes that Etsy continues to make, in what they assure us is a more streamline approach, is having a impact or if it is the economy ? All I can continue to do is assure my Military customers that the tally is being kept and the donations are being made, USO is even giving away free items with the donations which I have decline and put the whole amount into helping our soldiers :)

For shop news, as I have made reference to above Etsy is making some very large changes to the site, if anyone has any issues making purchases or getting your messages about your custom orders to me, by all means email me @ gabbysquilts@yahoo.com, if they go missing on Etsy :( I can find them in that location. It seem trivial but I have gotten messages from customers that with all the changes their messages when sent bounce back to them.

New fabric, notions and patterns are still being loaded into the shop, but you will notice the largest change in the site when shopping for those items, it has been rumored that Etsy direcst you to Etsy Studio unless you directly type in the shop you are looking for. I have checked out their new site, in which we have been told that we supply sellers will have our items on there only sometime in the future, and I have to say good luck in finding anything, as of my last check search wasn't working and you had to go back to the main site to find the items you were looking for. Why they would have a site available where search doesn't work is beyond me, but this is Etsy we are talking about after all.

New for my military customers are luggage tags, still working on the prototypes but have a light weight one worked out and the supplies are coming in for the heavy duty one in the coming weeks.
Here is a picture of the light weight one:

The biggest difference between the two will be the weight of the tag, this one will have the option of having the name embroidered on both sides and is 2 strips of material sewn together with the luggage clip at one end and a metal band clip at the other.
The heavy weight on will only have the option of having the name on one side and the material will be sewn to a heavy weight cotton webbing with the luggage clip at one end and the metal band on the other.
I am thinking the lighter one would be good for carry on baggage, tote bag, or back packs. The heavy weight one would definitely be strong enough to go onto the actual check on luggage totes and military tactical bags and back packs. My son was actually home for a visit as I was working out the prototype and was impressed with the lightweight one so far, and of course left with the instructions that when the prototype of the heavyweight one was worked out I had to send it to him for his approval, LOL :)

Well that is it for now, I'll be back soon with any new updates and or pointers on how to navigate the new changes on Etsy, thats if I can figure them out before they make any more changes :)

Have a nice Memorial day, and remember this is Military Appreciation month so remember to thank them for serving.

Delayed Shop News

Why do I always seem to be running behind when it comes to posting updates ? Let me tell you one reason, a outside job that takes me away from my business !!
On to the updates, donation was made to the USO for the first quarter of the year, yep I know, we are already into the second quarter, see, told you I was seriously running behind, but it was made when it was suppose to be just forgot to update the tally on my blog.

New fabrics and patterns have been loaded into the web site; http://www.GabbysQuilts.com and we are currently moving some of my handmade items into there as well, having a bit of a issue trying to find a way to separate the handmade from the supply items in case people only want to see one or the other, it is definitely a work in progress and sooner then later we will get it figured out so that it is a smoother transition so anybody visiting I ask for your patience as we get it figured out.
Craft show applications are being sent in and some have sent confirmation for attendance, as they arrive I will be sure to update the web site, the listing location and times can be found under the tab craft fairs, hope to see some local customers visiting and getting to finally meet you.
I apologize for this being so short but I have to get some more items moved onto the web site before having to do everything else on the to do list today.
Thank you very much for your time and patience and I will hopefully be back again soon;)

In the meantime anyone looking for some really cute baby photo props and they can crochet, be sure to check out this web site, she has a bunch listed with tutorials and pictures:
crochet baby photo props

I did it !!!

I have slowly started getting back into crochet and knitting, well I found this pattern on the internet for a basic crocheted dishcloth, which was fine and dandy, and I went a made a few. My problem was that even though I was using some really cute cotton yarns they were just well rather hum drum, I was looking for something that would pop, a repeated search on the internet was NOT bringing up anything that I thought had some POP to it, so after much undoing and repeated doing over I finally came up with something, I think, a little different then just regular crocheted dish clothes. It took some doing in finding the right number of rows necessary to do the scallop edge correctly, and the hardest part was getting the number of scallops to work out evenly all the way around the edges. I am sure it isn't the biggest accomplishment in the world but given it has been 25 years since I have crocheted or knitted anything, quilting kind of butt it's head in, I am pretty proud of my accomplishment. Now a experienced crocheter can probably look at these and redo them in a heart beat but I am hoping that I can continue on and come up with some other different variations on these, and they are a really good project to do in front of the TV at night when the work day is over with, like that is ever a possibility when you own your own business :)

I have also just placed a restock order with the supplier for Wash a day Clothepin bag pattern from Darlene Zimmerman and the Look Who's Sleeping in my Bed baby quilt pattern by Susie C Shore designs, which will be reloaded into my supply shop, they are scheduled to arrive sometime next week and those on the waiting list will get their notification that they have arrived for purchase as soon as I verify them in the shipping box. I also have a few new items that the supplier loaded onto the web site since the last time I checked, but I won't say yet til I make sure that they are actually going to send them to me. I will update on here when they do arrive :)
Well off to get ready for a new work day, hope everyone has a good day and you can bet I will be making some more of these for the upcoming craft fairs this season, they just might be a good seller :) Til next time

February shop News

Finally finished the books for January, working a part time job now so it is a little bit more difficult to get the time to close the months books, but I guess NY state won't really care as long as they receive their sales tax payments on time, LOL

My military customers made a sizable contribution to the USO pot for the beginning of the first quarter, 2 more months to go and we will submit the donation. January s figure was $55.80, which is a really good figure for the beginning of the year.

I have been working on double sided embroidery for the embroidered wrist lanyards, US Marines are done and are on the table waiting to be sewn and have the hardware attached, I am still working on the positioning of the US Air Force ones but am hoping to have them done by the middle of the month, they are actually on the table for tomorrow but we will have to see how many orders come in for custom orders first before we make definite plans on doing them. Orders come before play in my shop, hahaha.

Found a really cute tutorial online for a rip + strip placemat tutorial, I am hoping to find time to give it a try, if you want to give it a go here is the link to follow to do your own:

Rip + Strip Placemat Tutorial


Well that's it for now, I promise I will return soon with any new things I find and worse case scenario it will be to update the running total for the USO donation for the Military, til then happy sewing :)

Shop News

We have some new items coming in from the supplier that will be loaded onto the web site, just got notification that they shipped so I can't wait.

Some of the new items are Fashion colored fun tapes, these will be coming in some really neat colors and would be perfect for gift giving for a sewing or crafty friend or maybe for yourself. The colors that the vendor has listed are fushia pink, melon orange, lime green, purple and blue, can't wait to see them.
Red Heart has introduced a new line of yarn called Scrubby and the notification from the supplier said all the colorways would be coming except for Royal blue, so look for these colors to be loaded as soon as they arrive; coconut, black, duckie yellow, orange, ocean blue, lime green, bubblegum pink, and cherry red. I have only seen the black and coconut and have made one scrubby from each of the skeins, my husband loves them for scrubbing his frying pan in the morning after making his bacon and eggs for breakfast. My daughter wants me to make her one for a exfoliating scrub for her face to see how that works, so that is the project for tonight :)

Military paperwork has been completed, the US Marine Corps just sent through the approval for licensing for another year and the royalty report for Air Force is complete and sent. The donation tally has been done and a check for $125.00 will be going to the USO as soon as I get a chance, and the total donation amount thus far for the next quarter is $29.00. Sales are down all across the board on Etsy so that is the reason for the low numbers, haven't seen sales numbers this low since early this year hoping it doesn't continue for too much longer.

Well we are done for now be back as soon as I can with anymore news of items or products that we found that are new and interesting or that I might have had the chance to finish making. Remember all these products are going to be added to my web site, which you can find here: http;//www.GabbysQuilts.com

Til next time :)

It's Better Handmade Artist Spotlight

My spotlight shop this week is ;
It is owned by Samantha Sawtelle, her shop is full of some very unique handmade items that she has added her own little flourish to, she turns a simple wallet into a work of art by adding hand painted script and  filigree to it;
http://www.etsy.com/listing/94778369/one-of-a-kind-hand-painted-script-and

She also makes the cutest evening bags :
http://www.etsy.com/listing/98346408/small-fantasy-multi-colored-asian-flower



Which has her own personal touch with the cute little ribbon tassel on the bottom of the bag.
These and more can be found in her shop;
http://www.etsy.com/shop/MidniteHollow
Be sure to pay her a visit and tell her Ruth sent you :)