Happy Holidays + Lolita Contest

I hope everyone with an Etsy shop is experiencing some of the holiday rush! I had under 50 items total, and have already sold three this month, so I'm a happy camper. ;)

Santa kind of forgot about me this year, but with a bit of help, I might win something from my wishlist:

My spring lolita fashion wishlist (sort of*)

Please "like" the picture by clicking on it to reach the Lolitadesu Facebook page! You don't have to "like" anything or anyone else for this.

The person with the most "like"s or "share"s wins one item from her wishlist!

*Mine would be all white except white items apparently don't work very well with Polyvore collages

Photo Updates

Just added a new item to my Etsy shop:

I've finally gotten settled in at my new place, where the house is facing the "right" direction so that I don't have to leave the blinds down every day to keep out the blinding sun. Of course, as you can see, my photos are now suffering from the change. :P

It's a lot quieter here, so I've actually been very productive... I've already made a pair of floor cushions for my new living room, and finished a bunch of old projects -- including a coaster/place mat I've been putting off for about two years now (look under the plate below).

A huge chunk of my day is more or less wasted on cleaning (because the previous tenant stank and the place still sometimes stinks) and cooking (I made an ugly stack of ugly pancakes! XD), but over all I think I've been making better use of my free time.

 

I've tried several new tea houses already, including the above, which opened just last month.

And here are two of the new projects I've started:

A bit of cross stitching, even though I haven't completed my first piece (a traditional bookmark) yet, and a small teddy bear.

The needlework probably won't be appearing in my shop, because I used a pattern (gasp) and haven't significantly altered it -- at least, not yet. I did in fact alter the face to make the bear cuter, but I've also let the candle's flame get into the poor fellow's eye...

Here are a few less embarrassing photos:

Matcha cupcakes, made with about $12 worth of matcha (plus Mexican vanilla), and later served with English Devon cream. :]

Aaand a little gift I made for the buyer who brought the little Jack-o'-Lantern home! The apple is only about 2/8th of an inch tall.

Which reminds me... Hallowe'en is almost here again! It's my favourite day of the year, but having made my own costumes several years in a row, I've also been getting a lot more stressed out over it. Especially because, after Hallowe'en 2011, I had made up my mind to go as Snow White this year, but now two REALLY, REALLY TERRIBLE Snow White movies have come out...

May is Over?

Oh dear. I've postponed the vacation pictures for so long that I haven't posted about anything else since April! I will get back to posting regularly once our June 23rd ballet recital is over.

For now, here's a quick image-heavy post to cover the end of April, all of May, and beginning of June. XD

 

I went to Victoria for Easter break and visited another castle! My first "real" Victoria trip with Raccoon (as opposed to quick weekend excursions) took place 2 to 3 years ago, when we visited Craigdarroch Castle and the Royal BC Museum.

This time, we got to see everything we couldn't fit into that first trip.

 

The castle grounds were just gorgeous. At least half of our few hundred photos were taken there.

We also visited this former nun school. It was too large to fit into one shot, but this is about 1/3 to 1/2 of the full building. I love the history and opulence of the place.

I'm not religious at all, but I think it's reasonable to say most people can admire Catholic iconography on an aesthetic level.

There was a meadow of unidentified star-shaped flowers outside, as well as smaller patches of bluebells, daffodils, buttercups, and (my favourite? :P) dandelions scattered about elsewhere.

This yellow dollhouse was the home of a prominent Canadian painter and writer. I really enjoyed walking around the beautiful heritage house, especially seeing or imagining what she had mentioned in her semi-autobiographical short stories and novels.

No trip to Victoria, however brief, is complete without tea at the Empress!

I also brought back some beautiful Irish linen and Belgium lace (handmade by true artisans!).

And of course, we tried the macarons from a local bakery. I'm not going to mention the name because they weren't very good (too hard, hollow, and lightly flavoured), but aren't the colours pretty? Perfect for Easter! ;)


Speaking of macarons, I tried the ones from Plasir Sucre in Vancouver yesterday:

Despite the flies crawling around beside them (...), we ordered one of each, plus some fruit tarts. The brand of tea they had wasn't very good at all, but the tarts were delicious.

The macarons, however, were uneven in quality. Of the six we had, two were dry and crumbly, two were soft and a little mushy, and two were the proper consistency. Since the owner didn't indicate the flavours, we had trouble identifying the odd aftertaste of the chocolate macaron, and the WHOLE taste of the strange peppery one. (It tasted like steak.)

It was a lovely afternoon, though!

And lest this becomes a "What I did this weekend" blog, here are two pictures from a visit to some iris fields in Washington (US) that show the bow-and-shorts set I made myself.

The thing on my head is a double bow with cotton lace on a flexible fabric-covered band. The bloomers (puffy shorts) are the same, with a vintage-style red resin rose on a lace bow on each side.

100% cotton fabric and cotton lace, completely hand-sewn without a machine. I spent about three days at work (the boss was away :P) and two evenings on them... while multi-tasking, of course.

What I've learnt from this latest project is that I SHOULD GO BUY A SEWING MACHINE.

I plan to keep my Etsy shop handsewn and OOAK, but for things I make for myself -- and I mean human-sized clothing and bags -- there is really no point in putting so much time and care into them!

Craft Fair Success!

My sugar-tastic breakfast

I don't know what it was, but the week between the two craft fairs went by in a breeze, and I had made a bunch of new items with ease. Considering how bad my first fair was, and how the Buckingham Elementary one had a table fee ($25 + a raffle item) higher than my sales at the first, I had plenty of reason to keep stressing out!

New items included a small coffin cushion (which I started making on a whim at the first fair :P), a mini crocodile, and a tiny mermaid doll:


Yesterday morning, I woke up feeling great, and was welcomed at the school entrance by little volunteer elves, and pleasant rows of white poinsettias! (No pictures, unfortunately, because of the rush.) Buckingham looks pretty much as I remembered it... never mind that I've gone back the last few years to play in the new playground lol. :P

View from my table: Corner 1

The gymnasium was warm and cheerful, filled with festive music at the perfect volume compared to the awkward dead silence at the previous show, with commercial vendors relegated to the cluttered stage yay! XD

The lady to my right was selling handmade soaps, I think. She did very well, and even Raccoon said her items looked nice. They definitely smelt good, because some of the customers at my table thought my cupcake rings were scented!

Corner 2

Of course there were still dubious items (eg. ordinary watches), but this was REALLY a craft fair. Plus, everyone was incredibly friendly, and there were vendors & shoppers of all ages!

Once I set up my table, made Raccoon go home so he wouldn't intimidate the customers, and finished off a complimentary doughnut and hot chocolate, I made 3 consecutive sales to some adorable little girls! (I gave them all super discounts, of course. <3)

Corner 3

I sold a bunch of jewelry, the coffin, and a plush bunny! The last buyer might've been a vendor or school staff, because she was in such a hurry, but I only left my table once and couldn't be sure.

Most of the vendors checked out other tables several times, like at the other craft fair, but I'm not sure how I could pull it off myself... I don't want to have a bunch of people sitting with me, especially since one of my selling points is that I made every item without help, but I don't like the look of an unattended table either...
I only managed to run off for a bit when the guys dropped by.

Corner 4

Anyway, I think the tables were really well set up. Tidy, with lots of walking space, but "full-looking". There was a (school) bake sale and some children's activities outside the gym. Those, along with half-hourly raffles, ensured that visitors stuck around. There were also pictures with Santa, who came by and visited all the vendors first!

Santa gave me a candy cane, complimented the items, and let me take a picture of him (and asked to include his elves)!! I've never been so happy, ahahaha...


Last but not least, one of the girls I noticed passing by repeatedly stopped to buy some things. We started talking, and I only then found out she was just 2 tables down! (My lack of awareness of surroundings is astounding.)
She was selling Swarovski crystal jewelry with her mother, but made all the items herself. After purchasing several clay things from me, which was very nice, she even offered to trade for the coffin! My first trade!! <333

I've missed daylight, so photos will have to come later, but now I own two of her items, too! It was a very cool experience; I felt very honoured. Anyway it was so lovely to chat with her I would've said yes to any trade, but they are very pretty earrings for sure! ;)

Someone was handing out free MUSTACHE POPS so she picked one up for me lol!

She doesn't have an Etsy shop, and I had totally forgotten to ask for a business card... but I hope she'll be on Etsy one day! Likely we'll run into each other again at a craft fair next year!

All in all, the craft fair was fantastic, and the baked goods were delicious, hahaha. I had a great time and will definitely return next year if they let me! :P

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Just as a quick self-review, I noticed more people came when I sat and sewed instead of standing. It really makes sense to stand only if your displays are tall, or if you're really small...

I forgot to take a picture of my table AND myself, but we were both prettier this time! :PPP
I used 2 tablecloths this time to avoid ugly folds, and made a better "banner"... if only because SOMEONE folded my first banner into the tablecloth after the last fair, and another SOMEONE returned them both to the rental place...

I also forgot to take pictures of every new thing I made, so there are only in-progress shots of the ones that sold. Oh well. Here's a sneak peek of what's coming to my shop!

Hallowe'en (Handmade) Costume Recap

I have been insanely busy for the past week, making felt food for the upcoming craft fair and working on Hallowe'en costumes. I only managed to finish sewing my "main" costume on Monday morning:

Shrivelled-tail mermaid at Bear Creek park

It didn't turn out entirely the way I wanted -- the tail shrank in half because I didn't want to do anymore sewing, for one -- but it looks fine and lasted through Hallowe'en.

The entire thing is hand-stitched anyway... Who else would be crazy enough to do that?? So I'm still proud of it!


For Friday and Saturday, I had to put together a "back-up" costume:

Dorothy from Wizard of Oz... at Stanley Park

I sewed the hair-bows out of blue tulle, and pinned some white satin bows to the socks. Everything else is as-is, from the Angelic Pretty jumperskirt to the basket-style handbag.

Some of the little time I had also went towards other people's costumes!

For example, I made the red tie for Raccoon's "Son of Man" costume (left) and the furry white ears on B. (right):

Lining up for Dunbar haunted house

Raccoon made the green apple himself. ;)

All in all it's been a fun weekend! Now it's time for me to get back to working on craft fair items...

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