cultivating domesticity is in business

cultivating domesticity has entered into a whole new crafty realm. in the past two weeks we have:

• conceptualized and designed a new logo and visioning statement for the cultivating domesticity brand
• had that logo and statement made into two custom rubber stamps for use in business cards and labels
• started mass production of measuring tape wallets and fused plastic bag pouches
• set up as a vendor at a craft fair
  
• sold some stuff.
  
• installed paypal on the blog - check it out on the sidebar
  
• and i'm on the way to opening an etsy shop

most of the credit for these efforts goes to my amazing fiance, marty, for supporting and seeing this process through, especially as i'm preoccupied with simultaneously finishing one job and starting another.
also thanks to the help of many friends and family - mom for prepping all the wallets, adrionna and sonny for assisting with shopping, hannah for setting us up at the craft fair and sharing her wisdom, aryn, megan, and katy for their support and visioning with branding language, and all the friends and fam who have been avid readers of the blog and who came out to the first craft fair to support - thank you!

it's been a good learning experience. my sewing machine broke down the night before the craft fair - right when i was counting on pumping out a bunch of last minute wallets.
for one, i learned that "heavy duty thread" is actually for hand quilting, not machine stitching - oops. thanks to the ladies of sew images for teaching me that lesson and fixing the timing issues on my poor machine.  secondly, i only sold two wallets and three pouches during the course of the craft fair, so i didn't have need to be stressing the night before about not having enough products. thirdly, i picked up a lot of good ideas and inspiration for display from other crafters who came to the fair, and our brilliant idea to bring lamps and christmas lights was affirmed when our table was the warmest, most luminous booth in the joint.

lastly, i learned a ton from hannah, who has been doing this kind of thing a while and picked up the slack in terms of things i never thought of, such as: money for change, receipt books, and display. i also learned that if, at the end of the night you haven't really made a profit (as seemed to be the case for most vendors) it's a great idea to go around and trade with other people whose stuff you like. i got a great necklace made out of the little vinyl circle cutouts from the centers of old records from sarah at glitzfritz.

here's the new logo and visioning statement:

i love the rubber stamp aesthetic, and the cost effectiveness and reusability. thanks, marty.

i've already had several orders for measuring tape wallets - if you're interested shoot me an email: cultivatingdomesticity [at] gmail [dot] com
i'm relishing the process of packaging and sending them out. i love gifts. if you're looking for holiday gifts you can order now and have them in time for the holidays... i'm just saying.

spring cleaning roundup

the apple blossoms are out and i am ready for spring.
here's a little collection of spring cleaning tips i've rounded up this week:


march is "mending month" over at craft magazine - and they have posted some great tips on mending and cleaning, including these great stain removal tips.
when i learned the bit about baby powder on grease stains my life changed for the better. somehow i'm constantly dripping oil on my clothes.


they've also got great advice on removing sweaty armpit stains from your cotton t-shirts. you know you've got them.
now that i've got a sewing machine, i'm determined to treat it nicely and care for it so it doesn't get cranky. if you've got one i encourage you to take this opportunity to pamper your sewing machine with this spring cleaning for your sewing machine tutorial.


finally, if you've got a much loved quilt around your house that's seen better days, i found this useful tutorial on patching up those ripped spots.

if you've got spring cleaning tips to share please send them my way.

new crafting tool: bernette 82e

my obsession has turned from cooking to crafting this past week with the acquisition of my new pride and joy: the bernette 82e. the fantastic ladies at sew images in oakland paired me with this machine when i told them i am faithful to the bernina brand but am not on a bernina budget at the moment. apparently the bernette is made for bernina but "not in switzerland." i'm not exactly sure what that means - probably that it's made by children in china - but i couldn't find evidence of that so i chose to not think about that and focus on its pretty purple color instead.
it turns out i didn't have any fabric when i got the machine home, so my first project was a pillow cover for my prematurely old-lady-back chair pillow made from scraps i had leftover. i didn't even have enough material to finish the green border, so marty problem solved with me to cut out the corners and use them to finish the border while replacing them with yellow squares. i think it turned out quite well and mom says the yellow corners bring it all together.