Monday, January 20, 2014

In the Workroom Recap : Week 323

Hi guys! Things may look a little different here at Needlings.ca but nothing too crazy. In fact, new things and the very first Needlings blog entries from way back in 2007 are all in the same place now. Full circle stuff! Most of them are completely embarrassing to me so read at your own risk. It is though kind of fun to see how far Needlings' has come since then.

This week, more time than I would care to remember was spent on boring behind the scenes internet stuff involving a lot of stuff I don't really love doing. But it's mostly done! Yep, mostly!

It started with a little fun cupcake order which I was happy to have the chance to make!



Then I took some time to package and ship some orders before getting back to some more studio organization and parts cutting.





So many scraps! I'm happy to say they are a little more condensed and there are a lot more pieces cut and ready to turn in to various Needlings goodies.

I hope you all have a lovely week! I'll see you when it's done!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

In the Workroom Recap : Week 322

Hey guys! Week 322 was filled with a little early Spring cleaning, which really just involved a little rearranging of the workroom, and finishing up Needlings brand new line of fancy kitties and bunnies! It was fun to work on something new before getting going on restocking to prepare for the Spring One of a Kind Show in a few months (ah!).

At least I can start with a relatively clean workroom before the stacks of scraps and parts grow bigger and bigger...


Reorganization done! Then I got back to sewing work!



Which isn't always a tidy job...



Notice the start of a schedule for all the little guys that have to come together in the coming weeks! I'll try to take my own advice and just do what I can with the time I have! This will be my second year of doing such a big show so it's nice to feel like I have an idea of what I need. Which is a lot! I am happy that I will have some new Spring-y additions to the booth in March though!



Over the holidays I came across an old dance recital video (yep) where baby Needlings was dressed as a ballerina bunny hopping around the stage to "Cats and Rabbits" from Alice in Wonderland. I guess I was super inspiring. I also haven't been able to get that song out of my head so I may have sang a bit about cats and rabbits residing "in fancy little houses" while I sewed these little ladies up. We'll see what happens Needlings-wise when I come across that "I'm the Scatman" jazz dance performance from a few years later...

But until then, cats and rabbits! Or Beatrix Bun and Madeline Minou. Now available in the shop!



Speaking of cats...



Gus decided he found a fancy little house to reside in himself after I made use of some new shelves on my worktable. And when I closed the door on that one...



He just found another! 

I will say Gus normally does a really good job of staying clear of all the Needlings goodies but he just couldn't resist these ones. I can't really blame him. I guess I'm stuck with hiding things away in these drawers now which seems to have solved Gus' problem of deciding if he should sleep in his usual favourite spot or check out the new soft spots I seemingly created just for him to sleep in. You're welcome, Gus.

Cats!
(and rabbits.)

See you next week, friends!
 

Monday, January 6, 2014

In the Workroom Recap : Week 321

Hi guys! The very first week of 2014 is already over and I spent most of it finishing up some jobs that were on the list for the end of the year, most of which involved a bunch of organizing, paperwork and putting away of things. It is safe to say, after almost a month, that everything is all back in order after the One of a Kind show last month - pretty much. I still have some workspace organizing and rearranging on my mind but nothing pressing. Little things like a new spot for buttons and trims and reorganizing the "doll wall" above my worktable - fun stuff!



What's left of my inventory is definitely not taking up as much room so lots of stocking up for store restocks and the Spring One of a Kind show in March is definitely in order! For now though, I took some time to get a few things up in the shop that weren't there before and to revamp (I hate that word but edit sounds super boring) some shop photos and other little things. These are kind of boring always on the list jobs that I just have to do whenever it comes to me. Things don't get better unless there is at least a little change so there we go. I can thank my dear mother for that lesson. There is definitely never an end to that kind of stuff but you get to hear about it this week anyway. (Fun, right?)

So after a few little photo shoots, two little dolls and three large dolls are now up in the shop!







I hope to add more little Spring ladies to the collection in the coming months so stay tuned for those. In the meantime I am working on a new little prototype for a series I might potentially work in to the line depending on how I like the first one. It's only just in the works now, but I plan on getting at least this new one done before starting on stocking up on more of the old favourites. As a break for myself and also just because it was on my mind and now's the time to do it before I realize how little time I have left for everything else!




I'm sure you'll see the finished product soon! Not too difficult to come up with a guess as to what it may be though! 

I hope everyone is staying safe from all the winter weather we're having lately if you're in my part of the world! And if you're not, lucky you! (Although generally this is a pretty great place to be.)

I'm off to cozy up with my sweet little puppy and kitty and get some sewing done. See you next week, friends!