Friday, September 21, 2012

I Lied (Belated Recaps)

Remember when I said I would "be back next week with a recap of Locke Street Festival?" Obviously I lied to you as it is now magically September 21st and you have been recap-less. 

Firstly, PLEASE FORGIVE ME! I have slacked on my recap posts, but I will tell you that it only feels like a week later to me!

Secondly, September 2012 marks Needlings five years of existence. Can you believe it? 5 years of sewing Needlings and I couldn't be happier about it! In honour of this milestone, I am giving you an opportunity to enter to win lots of Needlings goodies.  Pop on over to the Needlings facebook page to enter.


Thirdly, get ready for three weeks of workroom recaps, weeks 252-254, and two show recaps in one! In one!

Locke Street Festival and then Supercrawl a week apart so soon after Fan Expo took me for a bit of a loop.  They were both amazing of course! Hamilton came out in full force for both events (even though there was rain for the first few hours of Locke Street) which kept me busy sewing like a madwoman for these few weeks.  

First I had to stock up on a few extra littles!


Locke Street Festival came and so we headed out in the crazy wet downpour to set up in the rain!  Lucky nothing got too wet and it even cleared up enough to turn out to be a sunny beautiful (and really busy) show day!


Callie the pup also enjoyed her first festival! 


It was fun to do a great Hamilton show and get a chance to see lots of familiar faces. I was also excited to be set up right across the street from Little Bird's new location inside of The Button Pushers with a few Needlings in the window!


It was such a great day on Locke Street in Hamilton and I had lots to do the week after to stock up for Supercrawl for the following Saturday!  





I did what I could! We headed out on Saturday morning to James Street North in Hamilton to set up. It was chilly but beautiful and exciting!


I was quite happy with the booth that day! And happy I managed to fill the table again so soon after Locke Street Festival!


(With Lisa of Nerdbiskit and Callie!)




There were amazing art and music performances all day! So much fun! I can hardly wait until next year now.  It's events like these that make me fall in love with Hamilton and feel so proud to be a part of it.


And now back to reality (which involves a lot of the same sort of stuff really)! On to restocking lots of shops waiting on more Needlings! First on the list is Homespun in Indiana!  




Whew! Off they'll go this weekend then on to more! I now have a to do list longer than it has ever been and even more to sew! I will be back in another 20 days for another workroom recap! Just kidding, I'll only be a week this time!

Saturday, September 1, 2012

In the Workroom Recap : Week 251

Hey guys! Happy September! I love the fall, I can't wait until the leaves start changing and all that good stuff.

Well, this was my first week back in the workroom after Fan Expo so it was used for general recovery (did I mention already how intense Fan Expo was?), finishing up a big bookmark order that was waiting for me, and some planning for the busy month ahead.

First, bookmarks!









Then they were all wrapped up and sent out! Bookmarks might be my favourite things to see laid out in a big colourful group after finishing.

After some to-do list organizing and a break to do a little doodle of my new rescue puppy Callie, I have a full couple of weeks planned to get a couple store restocks sent out and to prepare for Locke Street Festival next Saturday on September 8th, and Supercrawl the following weekend on Septempter 14-15th, both in Hamilton.



I hope to see some of you there! Keep an eye out for my booth near Hunter and Locke and come say hello.

Otherwise I'll be back next week after Locke Street Festival with another workroom recap and show recap! 




And keep an eye out too on the Needlings facebook page for an upcoming 5 year anniversary giveaway contest!

Bye for now, friends!

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Fan Expo 2012

Hi guys! I've finally recovered from the insanity that was last weekend enough to let you know how it went! Get ready for a long one!

Fan Expo is Canada's version of Comic Con where apparently 80,000 make their way, over the course of four days, to the Metro Toronto Convention Centre. I had never been myself until a few years ago when my friend, Jen of Sparklegirl, mentioned it would be a good fit for Needlings.  Now I've been going for the past three years and it is always super fun.

I took lots of pictures of my booth as well as a bunch of crazy costumes over the weekend so I'll show you a few here! If you'd like to see the rest, check out the facebook album if you haven't already!



Here it is on day one! It was quite a crazy morning getting in to Toronto with enough time to drop off my puppy at her sitter (who is one of my best friends and was amazing to watch my new little Callie pup the whole weekend!), get through lunch time Toronto traffic, and register for the show with enough time to set up! And we did it! 

I wore my table matching handmade skirt for the first time too, twice!
                     


I also stopped by my close-by friends Lisa of Nerdbiskit and Jen of Sparklegirl! Both of their booths looked great!




And a few costumes of course:

A kitty that bought a kitty!


Day 2 went a little more smoothly in terms of commuting in to Toronto with the puppy again but after the late night, I must admit we were all pretty sleepy! Lots of tea was required behind the booth.






Funnelling out after a long day 2!


On to day 3!







Day 4! Last day! (It really felt more like 10)








I didn't buy anything over the weekend but I did do a trade with fellow artist, Sincerly Swiggins! Check out his etsy shop here!



Happy! Overall, it was a great weekend! Worth all the sleepiness and long days for sure! 

I am already back in to the workroom program finishing up some big orders that were waiting for me when I got home, store restocks, and prep for more festivals coming up in September here in Hamilton, Locke Street Festival and Supercrawl, with another show at the end of September in Waterdown. Busy month for Needlings!

I hope everyone is enjoying the start of fall-ish weather! I'll see you at the end of the week for a workroom recap!

Monday, August 20, 2012

In the Workroom Recap : Week 249

Hey guys! I'm a little late this week with the recap. The days just keep flying by and now there are only three more days until Fan Expo! The good news is I feel ready to go and excited for the weekend thanks to all the work I was able to get through the past couple weeks.  Here's what I managed last week:







After I finished all that I decided to try my first mock set-up to see what else was needed. I ended up moving things around again later to try out a different set-up that doesn't completely put me behind a cage for the weekend.


I decided I needed some more owls - more Owl Mamas and littles.







Alllllmost made it without running out of stuffing.

Then I made up some signs and moved around the set-up until I was happy with it. I think it'll work!



I'll be spending the next few days finishing up with the tagging and pricing of everything and getting it all packed away and organized and all ready to go for Thursday! 

Let me know if you're planning on being there in Toronto and come visit me at my booth in Artist Alley A114!  And if you aren't going, don't worry, because I will definitely be back next week with a big old update filled with lots of pictures!  See you then!

Sunday, August 12, 2012

In the Workroom Recap : Week 248

Ok guys, quick workroom recap this week! Fan Expo is less than two weeks away so we're in the final stretch! Lots of owls on the go!





Then on to phone sleeves!




Check out all those owls! 



All stocked up on keychains too!



And now currently finishing up some Owl Mama Crossbody Bags!



Would you believe me if I told you I was working on the bare minimum amounts for everything?  It's true! Fan Expo is a BUSY event guys! I'm so excited!

Oh another exciting thing was getting a peek at my new Needlings Doodlings buttons that will be available at Fan Expo! These were custom made with my little doodlings by my lovely friend Lisa of Nerdbiskit!



Ok I'm wasting time here not sewing! See you guys next week!