I need new fabric.

Yep, I need new fabric. I'm nearly done with taking inventory...okay, I shoulda been done by now, but between procrastinating and actual valid interference from life, I got about 2/3 done and stopped. Anyway, I'm going to finish it this week, which is good, because I don't get to order anything new until I do, and some of my prints are completely out. The big question is do I reorder more of the same, or try something new?

The Blue Buttercups fabric, which is my favorite, has been out for awhile. Sadly, it has been discontinued by the manufacturer, and unless I order 500 yards of the stuff, it's gone for good. I can't even STORE 500 yards, never mind wanting to tie up that much money in one single fabric print!

I'm also out of the Pink Dandelions - a bright, fun print, but a bit of a slow mover. I'm surprised, as it's really a sweet print, and the hot pink is, well, HOT! I'd like to find a similar print to replace it, but haven't had much luck so far.

My usual source has disappointed so far this season - their new prints are either boring, ugly, or too juvenile...and considering that I make diaper bags, that's saying something! I've got some swatches on order, but my hopes are not high right now.

Unfortunately, many fabric manufacturers won't deal with small businesses like me - most minimums are prohibitive! I'm limited as well by the size and weight of fabric I need (gotta be 57" wide, and heavy like twill or canvas). Most of the other companies that I could possibly buy from make their stuff too small, or on quilting-weight cotton, which is too light. Dang!

I'm thinking about something like Spoonflower, an excellent little company that allows artists to design and print their own fabrics. But their goods are expensive - about 7 times the price I pay right now! And even with their 20% bulk discount, the cost would be too much - I wouldn't be able to sell my bags for a price that anyone would want to pay! I've found a number of similar companies, but most of them seem to be in the same price range, or even higher - yikes!!

Of course, I'd really like to design my own fabrics, and I could certainly sell them in my Etsy fabric shop (VN Rose Fabrics) in addition to making bags...but would people pay for it?

So, what to do??

Sip and Shop with your Sweetie

Valentine's Day is fast-approaching - have you gotten something special for your special someone? Flying solo but still wanting to treat yourself right? Well, if you're in the Snohomish/Mill Creek/SE Everett area, have I got an event for you! Boodlebags will be co-hosting a "Sip & Shop with Your Sweetie" party at Adore Salon & Spa on Sunday, 2/13 from 6pm - 9pm. Sip wine, nibble on nosh, and shop for the perfect gift in a beautiful setting! Other participating vendors include Fired Glass Jewelry, Esoterica Candles, and Juice Plus.

I've been a client of Adore Salon & Spa for over a year, and I love 'em! Jenifer Groh, the owner of Adore, will be offering free product samples, as well as specials on salon and spa gift certificates.

I'm a huge fan of Fired Glass, and own a few of Terri's gorgeous, hand-crafted pieces. They're colorful, luminous, and fun to wear - I always get lots of compliments!

Sherry of Esoterica makes lovely, fragrant soy candles, as well as lotions and bath salts. Regular paraffin candles are made from petroleum; they're toxic, and can aggravate respiratory conditions. These handcrafted candles are the answer - made with pure soy wax and essential oils, they're non-toxic, burn clean, and smell nicer.

Juice Plus is a daily staple in our household! My kids and I love the delicious fruit and veggie gummy supplements. They offer a variety of whole food supplements that can help you to eat right...even when you don't. Trish will be happy to help you find the right product to improve you and your family's nutrition!

We do hope you'll join us - it'll be a fun party!

The Radster Lives

Finally, my newest design can be revealed! A top-secret project, the prototype was to be a surprise gift for the husband of a very dear friend, and the photos couldn't be released until the package was received. At last, the Radster lives!
(I'm feeling very Dr. Frankenstein here...) Now,
the prototype was actually custom-designed as a laptop bag, but the exterior is identical to the new diaper bag design. I realize that a few of you have already heard about this bag, but for those of you to whom this is new, here's the scoop:

"The Radster joins the Xander bag in my new line of diaper bags designed with dads in mind! Made of durable, waterproof cordura nylon, this bag is one tough customer! Dark gray with black trim, the bag has green (or orange) glitter vinyl eyes, and a toothy grimace - perfect for parents with an edgy, fun fashion sense! The Radster has all the same great features as the Miranda II, including the snap-out washable lining and backpack straps. Also a great laptop bag for computers 15" and smaller." And there you have it.

Special thanks to Mary Platz of Platz Photography for her beautiful work!

7 years ago today

My son turned 7 today. Wow. Where on earth did the time go?? Seven years ago today, I was hitting the 18 hr mark in my labor, when the doctor came in and said "Well, he has a giant head, and he's stuck. We can cut you open now, or we can let you push for another 2 hrs and then cut you open..." So much for my planned natural birth! Even so, we got the grand prize, and it has been a beautiful, joyful ride.

The birth of my children actually led to the work I'm doing today! Prior to motherhood, I was an artist - a painter and print maker featured in Seattle's top galleries. Well, Xander's arrival brought that to a screeching halt - too toxic! Three years later, I was ready to go back to it. Chris and I had tried to get pregnant a second time with no luck, and at 39 years old, menopause had started (yikes!!). Well, that was my cue to go back on birth control and hit the studio! I spent a bunch of money upgrading my studio's power so I could have lights AND heat at the same time, and had purchased cork tiles for the floor. The day the cork tiles came, I uncrated them and got sick from the fumes - turns out I was pregnant again!

With Miranda's birth came a mix of elation and depression. I loved my children, and was delighted to have a beautiful, healthy baby girl, but oh, I missed my art terribly! And then came the bolt from the heavens, in the form of Renee!

Renee showed me some darling tote bags she had made, and I was smitten. I eventually asked if I could help her start a business, and Boodlebags was born. To have a safe, non-toxic creative outlet saved my life! I felt like myself again, and I've been enjoying the ride ever since.

I should note here that my husband has been so amazingly supportive of me in all my endeavors, and I could not have done any of this without him! His faith in me has never wavered (at least, not that he would admit), and he has been my biggest cheerleader and helper. All wives should be so lucky!!! And as the father of my children, I can say that all children should be so lucky to have such a loving and devoted Daddy!

For the beautiful souls who have changed my life in such amazing ways, I am truly thankful.

The following is a re-posting from my shadow/duplicate blog (see previous "defective brain" post).

Happy New Year! Well, 2011 is starting off with a bang, to be sure! First, I’m back in the saddle again, and sewing up a storm. Good thing, because I opened the year with two new wholesale/ consignment accounts, and they cleaned me out of new inventory. Also, I’ve just re-launched my Etsy store, and it’s going great guns! And finally, Renee is back – yay!

Yes, it’s true – I’m sewing again. My doctor still tells me I shouldn’t, but I just can’t stay away! I’m so glad to be back at it, but I’m trying to be careful and rest my hands often, so hopefully I’ll not overdo it and reinjure myself. Tracy is still doing cutting and tracing for me, and Jennifer and Paula still help with the sewing, as I just can’t sew fast enough to keep up with demand! I’ve also moved my sewing area from the garage studio (so c-c-cold!!) into the office/bonus room upstairs. I must say, it’s way more comfortable, at least in the winter! It’s also not so crowded. I miss working in the same space with my helpers, but it’s worth the trade-off.

On the retail front, you can now find Boodlebags at Me-n-Mom’s (soon to be Hopscotch Kids) in Lynnwood, and Swanky Babies in Kennewick! Both are boutiques featuring gently used consignment as well as new, higher-end products. I’m delighted to see my products in such great stores.

My very first retail outlet was on Etsy, three years ago. I never did much with the store and let it slide. Well, with the encouragement and help from Angela Inman of Sweet Bobbins (an Etsy superstar!) I’ve re-opened the store! In addition to selling my bags, I have also opened another Etsy store for just my fabrics! I’ll do a new post for the grand re-opening, so check back to score your coupon code.

What’s this about Renee being back?! Well, okay – she’s not BACK back, but she’s helping out again with the social networking, research, newsletters, and all that other important stuff she’s so amazingly good at. Much to my relief, as I kinda SUCK at all that! In fact, she’ll probably be blogging a bit, too. So, give it up for Renee, folks!!

Defective Brain

I'd like a new brain now, please. One that works, if you don't mind. Yes, a truly functional brain - that'd be swell. Thanks.

See, my day started off by my not being able to find an address. It was rather important that I find that address, as it was for a package that I REALLY needed to ship. Couldn't find it, even though it had been together with the package contents just the day before. So, I called the intended recipient to get the address again...yes, that was embarrassing.

Later that afternoon I sealed up the package and got ready to head out to the post office with my son. Couldn't find my wallet. Xander and package waiting patiently in car, I'm frantically searching, when I had a sudden flash of insight. It wasn't a nice flash. I walked out to the car with a box knife and carefully cut open the box, pulled out the bag inside, and with a sigh, fished my wallet out of the bag. Why, you may well ask, was my wallet inside that bag? Well, since I had this new bag in my possession for a while longer than I had planned, and as it was a smokin' new prototype of which I'm extremely proud, I thought I'd carry it around to my usual haunts and show it off before sending it to its new home!

Xander watched as I carefully sealed the box again, thinking it was very funny that Mommy tried to mail her wallet to Portland. In addition to that package, I had another package, plus a bunch of bags and packaging materials that I intended to weigh so I can better calculate shipping charges on my website. At the post office, Xander kept up a noisy running patter that I had to keep shushing, grabbing for the boxes to mail before I was ready, and generally distracting me as I was using the self-service kiosk.

Next stop, Miranda's daycare. I had her bag with sheet and blanket which both Chris & I had forgotten to take on Monday. I carried the bag into the school with me, intending to put it into her cubby before signing out. Was nearly all the way to our next stop, when I looked over at the passenger seat and realized that I had brought the bag back out to the car. I groaned, but continued on to our next stop.

Got all the way through the self-check line at Fred Meyer when I realized that my wallet wasn't in my purse. Asked the very nice cashier to hold my purchases for me while we ran out to the car to get my wallet which I thought had fallen out of my purse. It wasn't there. Another unpleasant flash. Panicked, I bundled the kids into the car, and dashed back to the post office. Oh, the other thing I had to do at F.M. was GET GAS - I was down to like 3 miles to empty. Called my husband on the way and explained that he might have to come get us in Mill Creek, as I may be without my wallet and without enough gas to get home.

The post office was closed, and the clerks were doing a fine job of ignoring my banging at the glass door with my key and shouting. Finally, one deigned to acknowledge my presence, and was about to send me away, when the night janitor stopped him and said he had picked up my wallet. Bless him and his star-emblazoned, gold capped tooth!!!

Wallet in hand once again, we headed back to Fred Meyer with mere fumes in the tank. We found the sidelined groceries, completed our purchases, and got to the gas station with "0" showing on the "distance to empty" display.

Finally, I went to post to my blog, which for some reason I had been having trouble getting into earlier. Had to contact former partner, Renee, to reset the password, as she had set it up originally. Couldn't figure it out, though - I had posted over Thanksgiving, and had accessed it with my own email, but suddenly it appeared to be under her email. Odd. Well, we got that cleared up on Monday and I did a new post, but the blog graphic looked different. huh. Renee must've gone in and changed it! She's back and doing some stuff for me, so that didn't strike me as too strange, but I tried to look at old postings and couldn't find them. Curiouser and curiouser! When I went back to it this evening, I couldn't find my most recent post - WHAT??? I finally realized that I have TWO blogs! Gads.

So, I'd really like a new brain. Soon, before someone gets hurt.

Happy Holidays!

Well, my family & I have been in beautiful NC for the last 2 weeks with my husband's parents for a much-needed vacation. The weather (up until yesterday) was glorious, we've enjoyed getting out and about, and the kiddos have had fun with cousins and grandparents. Thanksgiving was fun with the family, we're rested, and ready to go home tomorrow.

And when we get home, I'll be hitting the ground running! Did I say I was done with the show season for the year?? I lied! I'll be doing the Snohomish Holiday Market every Fri-Sun in downtown Snohomish until 12/19. Hope to see y'all there! If I'm not there in person, you'll probably meet my lovely assistant, Tracy.

Also in the news, a BRAND NEW BAG!! Yep, meet the Xander Bag, Miranda's big brother. Available in dark gray ballistic nylon, this is a great looking bag with the same features as the Miranda II, but with masculine appeal. Sleek lines and a single stripe of silver reflective tape add a bold touch, and safety, too! Once again, a lousy photo, but a great-looking bag (and yes, that is my leopard-print ottoman it's sitting on...).