And so we begin...

Hello, fall!  And hello to all of you, whoever may be reading.  Are you having the same crisp autumn air we're getting here in New England?  We had a big stretch of cooler temps, and today, it's in the high seventies.  I do love this last little bit of warmth we seem to get every year right before my birthday.  It's like holding on to those last pieces of summer as we get ready to drink apple cider, bake pumpkin spice bread, put out our Halloween decorations, and buy candy for trick or treating.

Really, is there a better season than one that includes pumpkins, candy, and getting to dress up?  I don't think so.

Today I was inspired but all these lovely autumnal thoughts, and decided to get cracking on my new line of heating pads.

I cut my fabric, and then remembered the thing I dislike most about sewing.  Ironing!  Bleh.  Regardless, I got that all squared away and got about halfway through my sewing before my happy eight month old decided the cord to my sewing machine looked super interesting.  Fortunately, mama is too fast for him.  I had him off the floor and that unplugged before he could get his teeny, adorable little hands on it.

So this is the pace we go at now.  Halfway.  Maybe tomorrow, I'll get to finish it, and then I'll reveal to you all what my first new scent is!  Hmm......what do you think?

No, I did not fall off the face of the earth...

life happened.  You know that thing that gets in the way when we're making other plans?

Suffice it to say it's been a crazy ride the past couple of years.  I now have not one, not two, but three boys.  Our new baby was born about seven and half months ago and it's been an adventure of relux, sleepless nights, and so much love my heart could just burst.

In addition to the baby love, we have kitten love going on as well.  Because four cats really wasn't enough...coughcoughahemHOARDERcoughcough...we decided to adopt another kitten, whom we named Vanellope von Schweetz.  She is sweet and sassy, so it totally fits.

So all that fun and life totally got in the way of any crafting, but now I'm ready to jump back in.  I'm looking to upgrade my heating pad line with more aromatherapy scents, and researching a personal care line as well.  I'll be listing things slowly in my shop as I work on them, and I'm so excited to share it all with you.

In this blog I hope to talk a little bit about the creative process, my successes, and yes, even my failures.  Because when we "fail," we learn, and if you can't laugh at yourself and learn from your mistakes, then what can you do?

I hope you'll join me for the ride.  Thanks for reading, and welcome back.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Who's ready to go green?

I know I am!  And not just in the "I like to upcycle my clothes and turn them into new things" sense.  In the, let's put on some green clothes, make corned beef and cabbage, and maybe, maybe even drink a green beer.  I'm iffy on that last one.

Now since in all our preparedness we forgot to get carrots...a crucial ingredient to our corned beef and cabbage dinner, I'll be making a little grocery store run today.

And I couldn't really see myself doing an all green manicure....not really my thing....however I am sporting some lovely green accent nails today.

And yes.  Apparently, Squishy from Monsters University is not only O K, he's Irish too. 

So what fun things do you do for St. Patty's day?  Do you have a favorite meal?  Any family traditions?  I'd love to hear about them.

And in parting, I leave you with this Irish wish of friendship from Irish Ireland:

Wishing you a rainbow
For sunlight after showers—
Miles and miles of Irish smiles
For golden happy hours—
Shamrocks at your doorway
For luck and laughter too,
And a host of friends that never ends
Each day your whole life through!

To market, to market.

I had an AMAZING time at the local pop up market yesterday!  I got to meet some wonderful people, sell some of my products, and have a wonderful encounter that I'd love to share with you.

Often times when I'm making something, I wonder where it will eventually end up.  Who will love this piece so much they want to take it home or give it as a gift?  Where will my happy creations go?  This is one of the reasons I so enjoy meeting my customers in person, because I get the story behind the purchase.  Why they're buying, who it's for, why they love it.

I had such an experience on Sunday, and I really feel it was just a bit of divine providence.

I'd made a beautiful tote, smaller than my normal size, and for some reason while I was in the process of sewing it, I decided to do a short handle.  I thought it would look cuter, and instead of an over the shoulder, you'd be able to just carry it, easy peasy.

Well imagine my surprise yesterday when a woman stopped at my table and started perusing my bags to find the ones with the shortest handles!  She prefers a bag she can carry, and although its predominant pink tones weren't her favorite colors, she fell in love with it anyway.  Knowing that I'd unwittingly made something that was perfect for someone honestly made my day.  She added some matching items to her purchase and I was just so happy for her.  It was a wonderful feeling, and she confided that she likes markets or fairs for the same reason I do.  She likes buying from a person; talking to the person that made the item.  I was so pleased.  It was a beautiful connection and I felt blessed and grateful.

For your enjoyment, here are some fun photos from the event.

Boo boo buddy size heating pad / ice pack.  Cinnamon scented so it smells yummy and soothing.

My table full of goodies.  

I may love making tote bags.  Just a little.

So in short?  I had an amazing time and I really look forward to doing it again!  I'll keep you posted for future markets, and thanks to everyone who stopped by.

Back in the Saddle Again!

Well, it's been quite a bit of time since my last blog post!  My first craft fair was a huge success, and now that the holiday hoopla has well and truly passed, I'm game for another.

I took a bit of a break from sewing after the holidays, having made two twin comforter size rag quilts for my boys for Christmas.  They came out beautifully, but with the many hours that went into them before the holiday, I needed a chance for a little sewing decompression afterwards.

I'm back in the saddle again and have been having so much fun making new products, and exploring new fabrics.  I'd love for you to check it out!

I'll be at the Love Local Market at Get Baked in Windsor, CT this Sunday, February 22, 2015 from 1000am - 200pm, and I'm so looking forward to it.

I don't just view it as an opportunity to offer my handcrafted items, but also to connect personally with my customers.  I love being able to talk to people, find out what they might use the items for, if they're purchasing a gift, if it's a treat for themselves...I just enjoy the conversation and the joy that comes of someone loving one of my creations enough to purchase it.  There's no higher compliment than a completed sale and the warmth in someone's eyes when they're pleased with their purchase.

Although I always strive to offer a positive experience when people purchase from my Etsy shop, there's something much more personal about that face to face contact.

It's also an opportunity for me to meet other crafters, and I'm so excited to do so....and also concerned my wallet may suffer a little as a result.  ;)  There are many fine products being offered and I look forward to not just being a vendor, but a customer as well!

Feel free to stop by and say hello, and see some of my new designs.  I'd love to meet you in person and show you the fun items Pumpkin Craft has to offer.

Getting ready for my first craft fair!

I think no matter how much you do in the way of preparation for your first craft fair, you will never feel really, fully prepared.  Add to that the inevitable kids being sick, you getting sick, and general life goes on despite the urge to sew sew sew and it got a little crazy in my house the past couple of weeks.

My dining room table became sewing central.  It was no longer for dining, it was for sewing...and although it gets like that a lot, usually there's at least some space for the kids to eat.  Not so!  In this case, to their delight, there were many meals in front of the tv.  I knew I was making progress on the amount of product ready for the show when the piles of fabric got smaller, more chairs became available, and the kiddos could start eating at the table again.  That was two days ago. ;)

I'm so excited to offer you a little sneak peek of some of the items I'll be featuring at my very first craft fair, today and tomorrow at St. Luke Church in Ellington, CT.  It's their annual holiday bazaar, tonight, Friday 11/7/14 from 5-8pm, and tomorrow, Saturday 11/8/14 from 9am - 2pm.

Now you all know how much I love bags.  By far, one of my favorite things to make.  I have had so much fun not only sewing new creations, but figuring out how to display them.  I found this kitschy cute coat rack at our local Goodwill and fell in love.  It is absolutely perfect!

'Tis the season for heating pads, because baby...it's cold outside! ;)  I LOVE my heating pads.  Not tooting my own horn here, but I have one that I use for heat and one I keep in the freezer to ice my knee.  It works so well because the rice filling just conforms to your body perfectly.  And if you're heating it up to stay warm or work kinks out of tired muscles, you'll get to enjoy the cozy cinnamon scent.  This is the largest heating pad I make, but there will be two other sizes as well, a mini which is perfect for nail wrap applications (who doesn't love Jamberry?), and a medium, which was designed to be "boo boo buddy" size.

And that's about all I have time for, folks!  Must, must, must go sew some more!  Sew 'til I drop!  And I can't wait to see you tonight or tomorrow at my very first craft fair.  Come be a part of Pumpkin Craft history and say I knew her when! ;)

Crazy Bag Lady

I love bags.  

There.  I said it.  If you know me, it's not really surprising.  Let's just say I had a little love affair with Vera.  And Dooney.  And some :::gasp::: label-less creations. ;)

I'm not a bag snob.  But what I am?  Is a crazy bag lady.  It really all started when I went on a girls trip to Walt Disney World in May.  Just the ladies, as it were.  I wanted to make bags for a few of my friends.  I found a pattern I liked, tweaked it to make it my own, and voila! The first Kat bag was born.

And although super cute...it seemed like a cop out to use licensed character fabric to create my pleated totes.  I felt as though I could push my creativity farther than that.  Because if you can sew, and you've got access to a craft store, you too, can make a licensed character tote.  And then it hit me.  A whole inspired by line.  A bag that looked like Mickey Mouse's pants.  One that looked like Minnie's dress.  A Frozen line.  Any character I could think of, the sky was the limit!

The only problem?  So many ideas!  So little time.  I've been keeping a sewing journal anyway, which is really just random jots of measurements for quilts and other projects I've been working on....mostly so I don't forget what I'm doing....but now it's become the idea journal as well.  A place to write down the thousand myriad thoughts that run through my head throughout the day.

Some days, I just have to laugh at myself, because I don't know if I'll even begin to be able to make everything I dream of, and that's an amazing position to be in.  When the creative juices are flowing so much, that you can't keep up.  I LOVE IT.

So begins my life as a crazy bag lady.  I offer photographic evidence.

And that's just the tip of the iceberg.  I can't wait to see what comes next!