missbossypants crafts now at UP THE STREET!

I am SO EXCITED! I was a vendor at the Bellies, Babies and Beyond show this past spring, and did some great networking. I met a scrapbooking supplies vendor who ran her own online store called UP THE STREET. Tara's creations are beautiful! She uses the newest, cutting-edge supplies and techniques, and sells them too!

Tara told me in the spring that she would soon be opening an actual bricks and mortar store, and was interested in selling some of my products on consignment. I immediately agreed. Are you kidding me!?! Of course I would LOVE to have my products showcased in an actual store, let alone one full of beautiful things!

Well, that store has been built and is now open. It is GORGEOUS!!! It is located in an historic building at the main crossroads in Strathroy (my hometown!). This building was originally one of the Hotels in town, back when people travelled by stagecoach and steam train. It eventually morphed into The Derby Inn... home of Strathroy's Rock & Roll. It was the bar in town that had live bands, cold beer, dirty old men, equally dirty carpet, and equally old furniture. It was much loved, and finally closed down about 2 years ago. The facade had been horrendously ruined with porthole-style windows with 70's style tinted and textured glass, as well as a brick veneer on the exterior walls. It was not a pretty sight. It was believed that the place was so rundown, it would be next to impossible to renovate and reuse the building. It was bought by a local antique and art dealer/picture framer who had the vision to revitalize this old building.

Here's how Tara's portion of the building looks now:

Its neat, clean lines are beautiful, while the architecture and form of the original building was retained. It seems to have been a successful revitalization project for both the building owner, as well as the Municipality (funds were provided by the Town to aid in the revitalization of this downtown building).

Tara's store is bright and attractive, and has a million things to look at (and purchase!)

Scrapbooking supplies are intermingled with antiques, old-fashioned sweets and products made from vintage supplies. Glassware is soon to be added to the great mix of products!

The most exciting part.... (for me, anyways!)..... I dropped off my wares today, and they will be set out in the store, ready for purchase as early as tomorrow!!! That's right, you can now stroll downtown Strathroy, and purchase some missbossypants goodies! Some items that will be available at UP THE STREET include: Flaxseed Ouchie Bags, Women's scarves, Kid's aprons, Baby Bibs, and Felt Food! Cup Cozies will be added soon, once I can add more to my inventory (i.e. pump out some more in my basement "sweat shop").

UP THE STREET is located at 2 Front St. West, Strathroy, and here online.

Stop by, check out the store, and tell Tara I sent you!

SewMamaSew Giveaway winner

Ok, another mention of the SewMama Sew giveaway day....

The winner of my giveaway was Rachael from A Little Bit of Everything. Rachael's blog has the same background as mine! I think it was meant to be, definitely destiny that she would be the winner! She lives in Christchurch, New Zealand, so my goodies sure went for a voyage!

The prizes arrived, and she blogged about them here (lucky girl, she won another giveaway as well!)

Here's some pics of the loot:

The ruffly apron, cup cozy and the felt breakfast set all together. The ruffly thing on the bottom left side is a ruffle card I made.

The apron

The felt breakfast set

The "Wilds of Canada" cup cozy

...and the reverse side of it. I love this fabric, it's so much fun!

Glad to hear that Rachael is enjoying her goodies on the other side of the world!

Custom order in the making....

The fabric has been freshly laundered and dried to perfection in the late May sunshine (or should I say the SWELTERING HEAT!)

A racing fan family has asked me for custom aprons and chef hats with checkered flag fabric, and each child's favourite colour. We have a very manly dark purple (show that to your husband, Angela!), a classic red, and a sweet light pink. The little girl is only 8 weeks old right now, but soon she'll grow into her sweet ruffled apron and chef's hat!

I'll be absolutely sure to photograph and post the final products before they are delivered - I'm super excited to see them finished!

2010 Women's Health and Lifestyle Show

Well, I did it. I got the last minute e-mail invite to be in the show on Friday morning. I accepted. I sewed until 4am, then out of bed at 7am to get ready for the show. I found childcare for monkey, and decided to bring sweetie with me, since she always begs to come to shows with me. (Mac was working nightshift, and needed to sleep during the day)
Of course, sweetie woke up with diarrhea..... great. But, we pushed on and got there on time, set up (with a little help from Krista - Avery's Garden), and started to sell! (Don't worry, sweetie started to feel better - I didn't bring a sick child to the show!)

This is the new (and improved?) display. I found a great stand that is supposed to be for drying hockey equipment. I saw another use: bibs and aprons! It's on the floor on the far left there. It needs to be painted, and tweaked a little, but it turned out to be a good piece. So that freed up space on the green metal rack that sits on the table. That's where my new spring/summer weight scarves are now being showcased! I need to photograph the scarves individually, and will post the unsold ones on my online market here.

Here's a closer look at the new stand:
And a closeup of the green metal stand with my scarves showcased:
Of course, at the last minute, I decided to introduce yet another new product: bookmarks. I LOVE fabric covered buttons, so I just HAD to try this out. They are paperclips with buttons at the top. I also did a few on the little bulldog-style clips. They are handy, and oh-so-stylish for your nightly reading! I'll also be photographing these and listing the unsold ones in my online shop. I'd better take advantage of the sunshine today, since the next 4 days will be rainy and gray!
(Although hot glue gun use at 3am is not recommended, these worked out quite well!)

I didn't know if I was going to regret the decision to bring sweetie. She can be really sweet and fun, but at the age of 6 (almost 7), she can also get bored and a bit whiny. She did SO WELL!!! She is not shy at all (she's a bit like her mother!), so she wandered around and made some great friends. She oohed and aahed at all the beautiful jewelry, cakes, scarves and purses, and dragged me around a couple times because I just HAD to see them! Her absolute favourite piece was a necklace and earring set she found at the doorprize table. It had it all: flowers, sparkles, and to top it all off, it was PINK! The wonderful ladies from the Weekend to End Women's Cancers were great and allowed her to put her name in the draw.

Well, wouldn't you know..... SHE WON!!! :) She was ecstatic! (just look at that gap-toothed grin!)

Angela from Yoga Bliss Fitness was an absolute GEM! She was doing reflexology sessions, and sweetie wanted one so badly! She waited and watched patiently, and when that chair was vacant, she ran over and asked very sweetly if she could have a "hand massage". Angela even had stickers with her, and gave her one before her massage. We will certainly be checking out her yoga classes for kids.
So now my stock is seriously depleted, so I've got to get sewing again. Not to mention the custom orders I secured while at the show! Yippee! Things are taking off, and going quite well! I just need to get going on the photographing of all my stock and get it posted for all of you to see (and purchase!)

Once again, the hottest seller were my flaxseed ouchie bags. They are so tactile and colourful, and customers just can't help but pick them up and ask about them. Some were purchased and even used by the vendors during the show - how's that for advertising! I have made a few custom ones for doulas, who like to use them with clients. I also received an order for a custom eye pillow size (20 of them! yay! Thanks Angela!). If you're interested in different shapes, sizes and weights, let me know, they are easy to make to your specifications!

Thanks to all of you who picked up my card at the show, and are now reading this blog as a result. Your praise and comments on my products are sincerely appreciated!

Have a wonderful spring day!

missbossypants online market

After many requests to sell my products online, I'm finally listing here on my blog. I have not installed official shopping software or anything, so there is no "shopping cart" to review your order. What I've planned, at least for the time being, is to use paypal billing. Peruse my listings here, decide what you'd like to order, then e-mail me at: sonya(dot)missbossypants(at)gmail(dot)com. I will put together a paypal invoice and e-mail it to you. For this process, you must have a paypal account. It costs nothing to register, and you can use your credit card to process all payments. Of course, if you are local, I will accept cash upon delivery as well.

I can deliver the goodies in the Strathroy/Watford/Alvinston/Arkona/Kerwood/Wyoming/Petrolia
and surrounding areas. If shipping is required, I will get a shipping quote and let you know how much it will cost before creating a bill.

To order a missbossypants item, please send an e-mail with the following information:
*Item name
*Number of items ordered
*Colour/flavour/theme
*Name, address, phone number and e-mail address

Please e-mail me at: sonya.missbossypants@gmail.com

Felt Food
Chocolate Chip Cookies $2 each



Chocolate chips are machine stitched for durability, then the cookie is lovingly handsewn.


Linzer Cookies - $2 each

These linzer cookies are so sweet and feminine with their heart shape, and preserves peeking from the cut out. Each cookie is hand sewn, and is offered in the following colours: Hot pink, light pink, red and purple.


Shortbread Cookies - $2 each

Both plain and chocolate shortbread cookies are covered in icing, and a liberal dusting of "sprinkles".
Icing colours available: brown, light pink, hot pink, light blue, light green, light purple
Sprinkle choices: pretty much any colour imaginable! I also have pearly sprinkles in ball or oblong shapes.

Peanut Butter cookies $2 each

Complete with fork marks!!!

Crackers and Cheese set $4

Included in the set are 4 saltine crackers, 2 slices of cheddar cheese, and 2 slices of swiss cheese. Perfect for sharing on a playdate!


Good Morning Breakfast Set $5

2 sunny side up eggs, slices of bacon, and a luscious hand stitched strawberry to start your day!

Donuts $4 each

Tasty hand stitched donuts are available in a variety of "flavours" and icing colours. Donuts come in cream colour, tan colour or "chocolate". Icing choices are: Brown, tan, cream, light pink, hot pink, and can be topped in a variety of sprinkle colours, if desired.


The Perfect Sandwich Set $8



This sandwich set consists of 2 pieces of bread, 1 slice of lunch meat, 1 cheese slice, 1 lettuce leaf and 1 tomato slice.

Aprons

While playing with felt food, every kid needs and apron, right?!?

For the girlie-girl, I present the ruffled half apron: $8 each
These sweet little aprons have a wrap-around strap that closes with velcro, nice and easy for the little cook to put on herself!

"Butterflies and Rainbows"




"Vintage Flower Garden"


"Variegated Flower Garden"


And whether the little cook needs full-body protection, or the feminine ruffles just isn't the way to go, I present the full body apron: $8 each

These are very sturdy, with a denim backing, neck and waist straps.

"Crayon creation" SOLD


"Koi Pond" SOLD


"Heavenly Donuts" SOLD


"The Wilds of Canada" - SOLD!!! Sorry, this particular one is taken, but I can make another, just special for you!



Bookmarks

Covered buttons on a large paperclip $2

Covered buttons on a bulldog clip $3

Covered buttons on a jumbo paperclip $4



Bibs $5 each
Bibs are finished with velcro closures, and feature colourful and fun fabrics. All are triple layered for premium absorbency. Most have a fun little surprise on the backside - an applique from the front side fabric, making these bibs reversible!

Ouchie Bags
Pictures and information to come!

Cup Cozies
Pictures and information to come!

Car Cozies
Pictures and information to come!

This online market page will be updated when new stock becomes available, or when stock is sold.

Thanks for visiting!!!

Craft show display

This post is a bit of a show off for me, but also for my use so I don't forget how to set up at my next show!!! :)

I was a vendor at the first annual Bellies, Babies and Beyond Baby Expo in Strathroy this week, and had the chance to debut my new display.



What's that you say, the sign closely resembles a crown and anchor wheel that can be found at most social gaming nights? yeah, I know. It's not done yet, but I got it that far, and decided to use it in this state.

-Flaxseed ouchie bags on trays and in the basket in front of the table.
-Bibs hanging from tiered rack.
-Aprons hanging from side of tiered rack (I have to find a better way to show them!)
-Felt food on trays and homemade pedestal plates (aren't they fun!?!)
-Aplique shirts on the clothing rack to the left.


I bought this metal stand at the second hand store a few months ago, with great intentions of showing my flaxseed ouchie bags on 3 levels. But, the ouchie bags get a bit heavy when there's a few of them, and I didn't want the whole thing to come crashing down. Instead, it worked as a great bib showcase. The middle tier went unused, albeit decorative. (The basket only held info. sheets, but hey, they gotta go somewhere too!) Notice the credit card sign hanging from the top tier. I didn't get a chance to accept any credit cards, but I know someday someone will whip theirs out, and I'll be laughing all the way to the bank!



Here's my felt food sets. I love the bag tags I created! I decided to staple them to the closed end of the bag, and leave the zipper end accessible so people could take the product out, touch, feel and examine, if they wish.



People just love feeling the felt food, and commenting on it. There were squeals of delight, and comments on how real it looks! I am most proud because I received a lot of attention from a couple of boutiques that would like to carry my felt food, as well as a couple daycares that are interested in purchasing!

I got my card out to a lot of people that night, made some money (above my table rental-yay!), and most importantly, HAD FUN!

I'm looking forward to the next show!

Bellies, Babies and Beyond Baby Bonanza

Only one more day!!! I'm so excited to be a vendor in a new show that is debuting in my hometown. The Bellies Babies and Beyond Baby Bonanza is on Wednesday, April 14th from 7pm to 9:30pm at the Strathroy Seniors Centre (137 Frank St). Please bring a food donation for Strathroy's Women's Rural Resource Centre as your admission.

 

Who is the host? Who are “Nurturing Mothers”?
Nurturing Mothers is a community organization. Born out of the passion, education, and life experiences of 5 Strathroy mothers, Nurturing Mothers was created to enhance community awareness, offer education, and provide access to local supports, services, and goods for mothers and their families, from preconception to motherhood. Please look forward to the launch of our website at nurturingmothers.ca for more information about them!

Of course, the missbossypants creations will be sold there (I'm a vendor!), and my sister-in-law will have her sweet little hair clips there as well. You can see her fun clips in her etsy shop here: www.averysgarden.etsy.com

To all of you who are local in Southwestern Ontario: Hope to see you there!

Protecting clothes from cooking stains....

Whether real or imagined..... :)

I've been "slaving in the kitchen" making loads of felt food for the upcoming "Bellies Babies and Beyond Baby Bonanza". I'm hoping that tons of kids will be able to play with all the great food. But you know, when kids are playing with playfood, they definitely need an apron!!! The bacon might splatter, the pasta sauce might drip... they need protection!

So, I created two types of aprons:

The full body apron, with denim straps and backing

Kind of rainbow-ish, kinda kid's crayons. So colourful and fun!




















This fabric is called "Chinese Takeout" I love the little Koi fish and lotus flowers!





















mmmmm...... donuts..... need I say more?


















I LOVE this fabric - it's from a line that celebrates Canadiana. Moose, polar bears, mountains, lakes and Canada geese. Love it!















Of course, ruffles for the girly girls!!!



Now all I have to do is price them - I don't know if I want to let them go though, so maybe they'll all have price tags of... say.... $100 or so. Sound good?